


An International Incident

by Thewildeqoute



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco as Napoleon Solo, Draco is French, F/M, Harry as Gaby Teller, Hermione as Illya Kuryakin, M/M, OT3, This Is A Disaster, Triad - Freeform, also Hermione is not Russian, also a snob, harry loves them both, hopefully it makes sense, she's American, the man from uncle au nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:29:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13420947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thewildeqoute/pseuds/Thewildeqoute
Summary: Draco Malfoy wants a relatively peaceful life for his profession. Hermione Granger wants to repay the man who gave her everything. Harry Potter wants answers.They all have to work together to get what they want. Saving the world is just a bonus.Man From U.N.C.L.E AU





	1. Draco tries to go through a simple extraction mission

**Author's Note:**

> the au that was begging me to write it

 

Chapter One: Draco tries to get through a simple extraction mission

 

 

If there was anything that he hated more than his boss waking him up at four in the morning to travel to London it was the horrible English weather. It was moments like these that he missed his family’s chateau in the south of France. Too bad he will never be able to go there again. His childhood vacation home was now just a distant memory, like his mother’s kisses and days spent playing football. Memories that haunted  him at night and brought about such an intense yearning that he was sometimes unable to move from the pain in his chest.

 

_Focus_

_You have only one chance to get this right._

 

Draco looked up at the apartment building across the street from where he stood  and sighted. Considering Potter’s financial situation the state of the building was surprising he still had hope that it was maybe better on the inside. He started walking towards the building knowing that he was going to be disappointed.

***************************************************************************

 

Harry Potter was nothing impressive. He was shorter than him with a mop of dark hair and bright green eyes behind glasses that were slowly sliding down his nose. Potter, to his credit, did not seem to trust him and did not allow him to get into the apartment until Draco said the magic words.

 

“Let us cut the crap.” He said while fixing his tie, “I can help you find your family.”

Potter frowned, “My family is dead.”

 

“Lupin isn’t.”

 

The frown fell off his face and was replaced with hope and then skepticism. He walked into the apartment and Draco followed him. He knew Potter was a fan of racing what he did not expect was the various blueprints of motorcycles hung up on the kitchen walls. Potter sat on top of the kitchen counter while Draco made himself comfortable on the chair of the kitchen table (not _too_ comfortable though, the chair was old).

 

“Who are you and how do you know about Lupin?”

 

Draco raised his eyebrow, apparently Potter was one of the brash types, “First tell me what you know.”

As Potter opened his mouth to argue Draco continued, “You can not expect me to just disclose such sensitive information, I need to first know your scope of the situation at hand.”

 

Potter sighted, “I know that my parents owned a large company that distributed chemicals and that there was a fire once at the factory and that it destroyed everything.”

Drao made a motion with his hand for him to go on.

“I know that the fire was started by Sirius Black and that my parents died in the fire, the body of Remus Lupin was however, never found even after their will disclosed that he was second in place to be my legal guardian.”

 

Draco could feel that Potter was starting to sink deeper into his thoughts, “And how exactly did you come up with this information.”

 

“My aunt told me.”

 

Draco had read the file and he knew that Potter’s previous home life was a big no-no, he was glad that the man seemed to know _something_. It made his job much easier. Even if his knowledge about what his parents did was very limited.

 

He was about to explain everything to Potter when something caught his eye from the window next to where Potter was sitting.

 

Draco quickly stood up and lied flat on the floor.

 

“Potter I’m going to need you to come down here for a minute.”

 

**************************************************

 

This was supposed to be an easy job. Extract Potter and bring him to Tom that was it. He did not sign up for unknown variables.

 

He looked at Potter who still hadn’t  gotten on the floor yet. There was a look of confusion on his face as he stared at Draco lying on his stomach.

 

“What’s  happening?”

 

“Someone is watching us from the building across the street.”

 

Potter’s shoulders tensed, “Just who are you exactly?”

 

“Does that actually matter, we just found out that you’re under surveillance, they could have bugs in the apartment for all we know.”

 

_“We?”_

 

“Follow my lead Potter, and we might make it out of this alive.”

 

He was going to have to have to use brute force, it seemed,  because Potter was still not getting on the damn floor.

Draco crawled forward and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the floor next to him.

 

“Now we have about a minute before whoever was watching you comes barging in here.”

 

“Who are they?” Potter seemed to finally register the situation because there was fear in his eyes, coupled with grim determination. Draco was glad that the idiot still had the will to live.

 

“I don’t know.” He knew that there were two possibilities they either wanted Potter dead or they wanted him alive and since Tom had not disclosed why he needed Potter, Draco did not know which one was worse. The one thing that he knew for sure is that he was ordered to bring Potter in alive and if he failed this mission then whatever those guys had in store for Potter would be nothing compared to what Tom will do to him.

 

“Where’s the bike?”

 

The question seemed to have broken Potter from his silence. “In the shed in the back.”

 

“Good,” His eyes met Potter’s green ones, “We’re going to need it.”

 

Draco then got up to his feet and ran out of the door the sound of footsteps behind him assured that Potter was not a complete idiot and that at least he had the brain to follow him.

 

The sprint to the shed was a short considering Potter lived on the third floor. He knew whoever he was dealing with was dangerous, however when he found them waiting for them by the back door of the building he knew they were fucked. He had made a rookie mistake and treated this job as if it was nothing. His experience with this sort of thing led him to a false sense of security and now he was going to pay for it. Really he did not even notice them until he heard the click of the gun and turned around to meet blazing dark eyes.

The first thing that Draco noticed about her was that she was small. She was dressed in dark pants and a dark shirt and boots that he knew would hurt if she managed to land a kick. He pushed Potter behind him and hoped that he had the instinct to run.

 

“Hand him over.”

 

“I’m sorry but you see it is of the highest importance that he stays with me.”

 

He did not expect her to shoot. He managed to move just in time to avoid the bullet being embedded in his shoulder it did graze him though. He turned to see Potter make it just in time to ride his bike and drive into the street before the woman reached him. Draco could hear her curse and get into a car as she chased after Potter.

 

Whoever she was, she was highly trained. She didn't even hesitate to pull the trigger and the way she drove the car showed experience. He had interacted with an unknown person  and Potter was by himself.

Tom was going to fucking skin him alive.

 

He was starting to contemplate the ways in which he can escape his fate, knowing that each scenario was even more unlikely than the ones before it, when he heard a screech of Potter’s tires as the fool came back for him. The man was making his life so much harder.

 

He got on to the bike behind Potter just as that bitch’s car rounded the corner. As Potter speeded up he quickly turned around so his back was facing Potter’s, and took his gun out of its holster. Using his uninjured arm he shot at the wheels of the car making it crash to nearby tree. His left hand must have not been as quick as his right (despite all the training he’s done) because the women was able to jump out of the car before it crashed. He turned back quickly not wanting to know what happened to the woman and winced as the pain in his shoulder intensified.

 

“Where are we going?” Potter raised his voice so he could be heard over the roaring wind.

That was why Draco prefered cars to motorcycles. “Just make a couple of left turns and then one right to make sure no one is following us.”

 

Potter nodded and sped up again.

 

**************************************************

 

Tom was on the chair in his hotel room when he opened the door.

 

Next to Tom stood Theo, latex gloves at the ready and with all his equipment beside him spread on the coffee table. The sight of Theo had never made him happier. He walked into the room and collapsed on the couch as Potter closed the door.

 

“I take it you ran into some trouble.” Tom’s voice was as cold as ever but at least he was not angry. That would’ve been so much worse.

 

“I took care of it.”

 

Tom nodded, “ I’m sure you did.” He turned to Potter. “Mr. Potter it’s a pleasure to meet you, I only regret that it wasn’t under better circumstances.”

 

Draco turned his head, ignoring Theo’s glare and looked at Potter’s face.

 

“He said that you can tell me about Lupin.”

 

The corner of Tom’s mouth twitched and Draco knew that was the closest thing Potter would ever see resembling a smile from Tom’s face. That is if Potter ever saw Tom again.

 

“We will talk about this in the morning, you must be tired.”

 

Draco saw Potter open his mouth to argue and then close it. Even though Tom’s back was to Draco and Theo, his face must have showed Potter that Tom was not a man you argued with. He was the kind of man you obeyed.

 

Tom turned and raised his brow at his hiss of pain as Theo dressed his wound. When Theo was done he quietly packed his equipement and left. Tom looked at Draco and then Potter.

 

“Mr. Potter you will be staying with Draco here until we can meet again,” He then fixed Draco with a look, “I am sure that he will be the most gracious of hosts.”

 

Then he too left leaving Draco on the couch with a very angry and confused looking Potter.

 

“I don’t know about you, but I can use a drink.” He then lifted his uninjured arm,” Draco Malfoy, pleasure to meet you.”

 

Potter looked at his arm and then walked to the mini fridge and started pulling out the small bottles of whisky.

 

Draco might start to like him after all.

 


	2. Hermione and Draco have questions and Harry is a Ken doll

 

Chapter Two: Hermione, Draco and Harry have questions and Harry is a Ken doll

In the morning Draco felt so much better. The same could not be said for Potter. The green eyed man was currently passed out  in the bathtub hugging a towel. Draco opened the shower tap and let the water do its job. The sight of Potter sputtering as he woke up was enough to make him momentarily forget the fact the he was shot last night.

 

“Get up Potter,I need to take a shower.”

 

Potter gave him a withering glare and slowly got up from the tub and towards the door, presumably to look for his glasses that he must’ve misplaced sometime last night between the drinking and the ordering of room service. Draco proceeded to slowly remove his shirt so he can shower being very careful of his wound. Theo would say that he was being a baby but it has been a long time since Draco has been shot, years in fact. Even if it was just a graze it still hurt and he did not like pain.

 

By the time Draco got ready for his meeting with Tom, Potter seemed to be doing a lot better. There was a knock on the door and Draco opened it to find Theo carrying a small bag of what seemed to be pastries and a cup that smelt of very strong coffee. He was about to take them when Theo walked past him into the living room and handed the coffee to Potter, who was lying on the couch with his forearm above his eyes. At the smell of the coffee life seemed to seep back into Potter and he slowly sat up and gave Theo a very grateful nod.

 

“None for me then.”

 

Theo turned towards to him, “ You shouldn’t keep Tom waiting .”

 

“You’re leaving?”

 

Potter sounded angry and Draco was sure he would have yelled at him if it wasn’t for the fact that he was suffering through a very bad hangover right now.

 

“I will be back, Theo here will stay with you.” Draco tried to give his best attempt at a reassuring smile, “ You can trust him.”

 

“I can’t trust any of you.”

 

Draco chuckled and he could see that it disarmed Potter, “You might not be as stupid as I thought.”

 

He left the room and hoped that Tom was going to explain to him the reason he wanted Potter. Draco may have started to warm up to the guy but it didn’t change the fact that this was a job. Sooner or later Tom would take Potter away and Draco would resume his dangerous lifestyle. _Hopefully sooner._

 

The cafe where he met Tom was _quaint._ It was old with displays that showed cakes and cookies that must’ve been at least three days old. The smell of tea and sickly sweet chocolate seemed to fill the air and the tables must have not been replaced in twenty years. Draco still sat across from Tom knowing that the man must have had a good reason to choose such a horrible establishment he did not hesitate to make his displeasure known, though.

 

“ I’m afraid I chose the place Mr. Malfoy, you shouldn’t blame poor Tom.”

 

Draco turned at the man who came to stand next to their table and quickly stood up ready to bolt to the exit.

 

Sirius Black laughed and sat down next to Draco’s  boss, “ You have a good agent there, Tom.”

 

Draco could have missed the woman who came in with Black if it wasn’t for the fierce glare she gave him, which in turn made him realize that he really wasn’t good at spotting her especially due to her small frame and the normal clothes she wore. While all the men were dressed in suits she looked like a normal civilian in jeans a grey shirt and a black jacket with a cap on. If she passed him on the street he would have completely ignored her.

 

“I realize you and Ms.Granger here started out on the wrong foot but that’s all in the past now.”

 

“You mean when she shot at me.”

 

“Did you forget that you were trying to kill me.” Her voice was much lower and stronger than he expected.

 

Draco smirked, “ You jumped out, didn’t you?”

 

The women’s glare intensified if that was even possible and she sat across from Black, which meant that he had to sit next to her.

 

“ Can someone please explain to me why a convicted felon and the women who shot me are here.”

 

Before Tom could answer the woman next to him interrupted,  “ It only grazed you, didn’t it?”

 

Black’s eyes were filled with mirth, “Hermione, play nice.”

 

She huffed and Tom always seems amused by the whole exchange and after waiting a moment to make sure nobody was going to interrupt him he spoke, “You see Draco, Black here is with the CIA and we have decided that it would be better if you three work together.”

 

“What?”

 

“Three?”

 

Draco turned to look at the women sitting next to him, “ That’s the part you choose to focus on?”

 

Her glare came back with full force, “ Unlike you, I can be professional and respect orders even if it means working with an incompetent asshole.”

 

“I’m sorry, didn't you fail to retrieve Potter last night?”

 

“You didn’t even notice I was standing next to you until I spoke.”

 

Black cleared his throat as Draco was about to reply.

 

Tom gave Draco a glare as if he was the one to start it, “ To answer your question Ms. Granger, Potter will be joining you two.”

 

“But why?”

 

Black gave a sigh, “ Recent information has shown us that Grindelwald might still be on the move.”

 

Draco looked at Tom to confirm what Black just said.

 

“We believe that he might have kidnapped Lupin to make him a biological weapon and Potter would be your key to getting to Lupin.”

 

Draco was staring in disbelief as Tom spoke, “Your mission is to retrieve Lupin and all the information of his weapon and to make sure that Grindelwald and any partners he might be collaborating with are known and dealt with.”

 

“ And is Potter to know about the truth?”

 

That was the first time the hag next to him said something of value this entire conservation.

 

Black shook his head,  “ As much as I’m against using Harry in this operation we need him and if he knew the true story there is a chance he will be blow our cover.”

 

Draco nodded, he could see the sense in that.

 

Suddenly both Tom and Black dropped folders on the table. Draco and the bitch took their respective folders as Black spoke.

 

“ This all you need to know and as we speak,  Harry is being transported to a safe house,” Him and Tom stood up and Draco and his new partner followed their lead. “You have two days to get ready and travel.”

 

Tom looked at both of them, “ I can not stress how important this operation is.”

 

Draco looked at his partner only to find her looking at him. Her eyes were filled with anger and determination. She was not happy about this either but he could tell that she wasn’t going to ruin this for him.

 

“You can trust us.”

 

**************************************

 

Hermione entered her hotel room in  a fit of rage. Sirius had not informed her that the agent she encountered last night was with the DGSE. She had thought that she had failed the mission. She thought she had made Sirius lose Harry for a second time. The moment she jumped out of her car and had to watch as Harry and that asshole Malfoy drove further and further away, the first things she could think of was how she had failed Sirius, how heartbroken he was going to be, how disappointed.

 

Now she finds out that Harry was perfectly safe this whole time. That he was in the reliable hands of an intelligence organization.

 

_How reliable can they really be if they hired Malfoy?_

 

She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on the task at hand. She had requested Luna sent her all the files that they had on Malfoy, she was going to find out everything there was  to know about her new douchebag of a partner.

 

_Focus_

_Harry’s safety takes priority._

 

Hermione had begged Sirius to come with her and Malfoy to the safe house tomorrow but he had refused. Sirius wanted Harry to have a clear head for the mission and apparently  his head can not be clear if he found out the truth. Hermione again found  herself thinking about  her mentor’s predicament. Here he was, after all these years of watching Harry grow up with those horrible people unable to do a thing to protect him, and now that he was so close he can't touch him. Now Sirius had to worry about his closest friend alive being forced to create a weapon.

 

As Hermione packed her bag and took one final look at the files spread on her table she made a vow to herself. She would make sure that Lupin and Harry both return to Sirius. She would  finally repay him for all that he had done for her. Hermione would make sure that Sirius go his family back and not Malfoy or the DGSE or even Grindelwald himself was going to stop her.

 

**************************************************

 

The drive to the safe house wasn’t a pleasant one. She had taken charge and came to pick up Malfoy from his hotel in her brand new car, since her old one ended up wrapped around a tree ( a fact that Malfoy seemed delighted in). He was currently sitting in the seat next to her as she drove to a small neighbourhood outside of London. She glanced at him again only to find him looking at his phone. It was now or never.

 

“ I know you are unhappy about this as I am.”

 

“ You dont say.” He scoffed.

 

Hermione sighted to help reign in her anger, “ Look, this mission is a big deal and we should be able to succeed despite certain complications.”

 

He finally put down his phone and looked at her, “ As long as you don’t get in the way.”

 

It was her turn to scoff now, “If anyone’s getting in the way it is you Malfoy.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean.”

 

She sighted, “You have a history of not following protocol.”

 

She felt him tense next to her as she entered the neighbourhood.

 

“You’ve done your homework.”

 

“Of course as I’m sure you did too.”

 

He gave her a look and she ignored him, “ I think we'll be fine as long as you understand that the mission takes priority over any personal feelings you have.”

 

She stopped the car, “What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“We all have our history Granger,” he said as he got out of the car, “ Now come on we have a lot to tell Potter.”

 

Hermione sighted and switched the ignition off as she got out of the car. The neighbourhood that the safe house was in was the ideal family setting. The houses all looked uniform and new with small, green yards and families walking their dogs. It was the type of neighbourhood that she would have never dreamed of being in again. It just didn’t usually come with her job description. Seedy bars, galas and underground facilities were more her lane. Malfoy and her made their way to the front door only for it to open unexpectedly as Harry came out.

 

Hermione had not had the chance to see him in person before, the night that they should have met had ended disastrously and it was too dark then to make the features of his face with great detail. Now, though, he was standing in broad daylight and she marveled at the way he resembled the man in the photos that Sirius kept in his wallet.

 

Harry stormed at them, “ Where have you been?”, Malfoy opened his mouth to reply only for Harry to interrupt him, “I have been in this house for two days and your friend refuses to tell me anything.”

 

Malfoy pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment, “Can we please go inside first, we’ll explain everything, I promise.”

 

At the mention of the we Harry looked confused until he turned a bit to see her standing a few footsteps behind Malfoy. He fixed her with a quizzical look and then turned around and went back in the house.

 

Malfoy followed him in, “As you can see, the third member of this team is not that easy to deal with.”

 

She couldn’t blame Harry. He had lived his whole life unaware of the things around him. Unaware of the reason that Lupin could not be his legal guardian. Unaware of his importance in what was to come. And now he was unaware of why he was targeted, unaware of the reason both her and Malfoy came after him.

 

She walked in the house and knew that they would have to tell him as much of the truth as possible without compromising the mission. No matter what,  Harry was a civilian.

 

***************************************

 

“ So let me get this straight. I will travel with both of you to Italy where we are supposed to save Lupin and take any information he may have on constructing a giant biological weapon and collect information about the partners of Grindelwald and take out as much of them as we can,” Harry said as he fixed them with a look, “ Did i miss anything?”

 

Malfoy gave her a look and she sighted, “ Yes,” she then fixed Harry with a glare,” But you will not participate in any of the taking out, as you phrased it, you are a civilian and your safety can not be compromised more than it has already been.”

 

Harry gave her an incredulous look,” I still don’t know how I’m supposed to help.”

Draco groaned, “It’s simple Potter, you are the closest thing Lupin has to family left in the world, we’ll stage for you to meet as an accident and he won’t be able to let you go.”

 

“I thought you said they kidnapped him.”

 

Malfoy looked like he was about to scream, “They allow him the occasional outing he is listed officially as the head of the research department of a company owned by a man with the name Crouch Jr.”

 

“Crouch?”

 

Hermione spoke up, “ British but raised in Italy after his mother took him and left his workaholic politician of a father.”

 

Draco gave a small chuckle at the next part of the plan,” One of Crouch’s right hand men is a guy called Cormac Mclaggen.”

 

“Why is he important.?”

 

“ He plans all the big events that have to do with the company and it is fair to assume that he is involved,” Draco said and then he guestered to Hermione and Harry, “ This is where you come in.”

 

At Harry’s confused look she elaborated, “Cormac likes,” she hesitated on how to say it, “Couples. He prefers his lovers to be multiple and intimate with each other. Our job is to seduce him and get into the company’s annual charity gala.”

 

Harry’s face turned sour as he looked at both of them. It was clear this was something that Harry was not comfortable with. His hesitance would have to be dealt with, Mclaggen was no idiot.

 

Malfoy stood up from his  seat on the couch and walked into the kitchen, “ I can’t deal with this anymore.”

 

Hermione and Harry glared at him but then Hermione turned and gave Harry a soft look.

 

“Once Lupin sees you he’ll want to make contact  and then the rest is up to Malfoy and I.”

 

“How will he recognize he hasn’t seen in me since I was a baby.”

 

Hermione looked Harry in the eye,” You know how.”

 

Harry sighted took his glasses off and started rubbing at them with the corner of his shirt with his eyes downcast, “ You do know everything, don’t you?”

 

Hermione shrugged, “It comes with the job.”

 

“Do you know why he hasn’t bothered to contact me yet.”

 

She shook her head, “ That’s something you’re going to have to ask him yourself.”

 

He nodded and put his glasses on and Hermione just wanted to scream and tell him how much he was loved. How much family he had in Sirius and Lupin, how much those two were willing to sacrifice for him. Instead she gave him a smile.

 

“Don’t worry I’ll protect you from anything.”

 

Harry seemed shocked, “I thought that you were going to kill me that night.”

 

She rolled her eyes, “Malfoy is a bit dramatic, you shouldn’t listen to him.”

 

“How dare you Granger it was a very valid comment and he should have assumed that you were going to kill him.”

 

Hermione fixed Malfoy with a glare as he sauntered into the room again.

 

“You can trust us Harry,” she said,” We will protect you.”

 

Harry nodded and said, “What if you can’t though?”

 

Before Hermione could address Harry’s very valid concern Malfoy answered, “Potter you basically have the CIA’s and DGSE best as your bodyguards and I don’t care if you don’t tell us your deepest darkest secret,” Malfoy made his way to stand next to her and glared at Harry, “I care that you trust us to do our jobs and bring you back safe.”

 

Harry started laughing and when he saw her and Malfoy both glaring at him he straightened up, “So when do we leave?”

 

“Tonight but first we have to get you something to wear.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You will be wining and dining with the top of society and you can not look like a riff raff.”

 

“I do not look like a riff raff.”

 

Malfoy had an evil smile on his face and Hermione felt sorry for Harry.

 

“You won’t by the time I’m done with you.”

  


**********************************************

 

While on Hermione could not boast of having a natural sense of fashion, grwoing up with Sirius has more than made up for her lack of knowledge in al things clothe related. Harry, unfortunately could not boast the same so he found himself in the hands of Malfoy, who naturally had impeccable taste. He walked Harry into a store that seemed to be hidden in the middle of London, where Harry was measured for a suit while Draco talked to the tailor and informed him about his vision for Harry. The tailor looked delighted as he ushered a plethora of suits, shirts, jackets and ties by Draco, all of which he examined with a critical eye.

 

Hermione would have laughed if she hadn’t wanted to maintain a purely professional atmosphere with Malfoy. Harry’s face as he went through the ordeal was enough to warrant a twitch of her lips. Harry seemed to see that she found his suffering entertaining because he fixed her with a glare before sighing and smiling as Malfoy barked at him to get changed again.

 

After Malfoy paid and arranged to have all the clothes sent to his hotel room they headed for a little cafe because they were all hungry. It was a lot better than the one Hermione had first officially met Malfoy in. The floors were clean and the decor looked like it belonged in the last decade.

 

“What about you Granger, do you have appropriate attire for the mission?”

 

Hermione sipped at her coffee, “Don’t worry Malfoy I can handle my own shopping.”

 

He held his hands up as if to show his surrender. “I just wanted to make sure that you won’t do anything to compromise the mission.”

 

Turning to usher the waiter did nothing to conceal his smirk and so Hermione made no effort to conceal her glare.

 

Harry looked at them both as he ate his pasta, “Wil this be okay?”

 

As their inquirring looks he calrified, “You guys working togther.”

 

Malfoy brought his scotch to his lips, “I thought i told you to trust us to do our jobs.”

 

Harry didnt say anything but it was clear he wasn’t sure that Hermione and Mlafoy could get past their initial meeting.

 

Hermione stood up from her seat, “I have to get ready, I’ll see you both at the airport.”

 

Harry stood up as well, “If you got to see me being this snob’s own personal Ken doll then I get to see him dress you.”

 

Malfoy seemed offended at being called a snob, “I’m sure Granger could handle herself.”

 

“I want us to go with her, aren’t we supposed to be a team?”

 

“Yes but thst doesn’t mean we spend every waking minute togther,” Malfoy hissed.

 

“It’s okay you can come,” Hermione conceaded.

 

Harry smirked at Malfoy in a very gloating manner.

 

************************************************

 

“ You need variety in your clothes, Granger.”

 

Draco was suprised when Granger took them to decent stores to buy her clothes. The way she dressed now and the dresses she picked made it clear that she was used to dressing as someone she wasn’t. All that she chose did have a bit of her in it though. The simple cut of one of the dresses, the plain black belt with the dainty gold buckle, the classy golden clutch and the elegant diamond necklace that she chose all screamed her. Draco was just pissed that all her evening gowns were the same cut.

 

“I have to have full sleeves, Malfoy.”

 

“But why?” He questioned as he eyed a sleeveless dark green number with a plunging back that would look really good on her.

 

“The bruises are hard to cover with makeup.”

 

At Potters gasp Draco turned to see Granger take off her jacket so he had a view of her arms. She had deep blue brusises all along her arms and they were particularly bad around her elbows.

 

He knew jumping from a moving car would damamge most people worse than this and while she grazed him with her bullet and he really shouldn’t feel bad for her, a part of him did anyway.

 

She was a lady after all and his mother did raise him right. She shouldn’t know that though.

 

“I got grazed by a bullet you can handle a few bruises.”

 

He could feel Potter glare at his back as he picked up a another dress.

 

*****************************************

 

When they arrived in Rome Hermione found a dress in her suitcases that she knew she didn’t buy. It was black and floor length, with gold detailing on the waist and the edges of the plunging neckline. It had long sleeves and the wasn’t skin tight. It screamed classy but daring. She smiled as she put it aside. It was the perfect dress for the charity gala that she would damn make sure they got invited to.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really enjoying writing harry as gaby he makes a fantastic one.


	3. Draco knows somebody, Hermione seduces and Harry is as confused as ever

Harry had never left England before. The most he has travelled in his life was the road trip he and Ron went to after graduating from six form. They had driven to Edinburgh with Dean and Seamus. Harry had just turned 18 and had been contacted by the bank. He was old enough to finally claim his inheritance. When he found out he was furious that he had spent his childhood in hand me downs and half starved when he had a fortune to his name. Looking back at it he was glad his aunt and uncle weren’t granted access to his money or they probably would have spent it all on his cousin. Finding out he had a fortune was life changing, he paid for their trip and made sure all his friends had an amazing time and then he had convinced Ron to move with him because he knew he couldn’t afford to move out from his parent’s house. The day he had found out about his inheritance he had moved out. He bought his small apartment and convinced Ron to only pay for their food. Harry had just bought a used motorcycle and was fixing it to distract himself from the fact that he had enough money to never work a day in his life. He knew he didn’t want to spend his days doing nothing and while Griphook was handling all his investments Harry knew that it didn’t compare to actually earning his money.

 

He had been at a loss and then Malfoy knocked on his door. And now he was traveling to Rome with him and Agent Granger.

 

_ Hermione, _ she had asked him to call her and she called him Harry. It was a lot easier to trust her than to trust Malfoy. Her eyes were kind and she looked at him as if she knew him. He knew that they had to act as if they were in a relationship and it was going to be very hard for him. He had only loved two girls ever and there was that confusing time with Cedric and the showers.

 

Hermione was not a school girl though, she walked with confidence he has never seen in his life. Malfy seemed to walk with authority that screamed of class but Hermione met your eye and her stance seemed to challenge all those around her to dare and push her. She was tiny but she was powerful and Harry had no idea how to act, it was clear that she was used to this and even if she had promised  that she would protect him, he couldn’t help but worry.

 

The plane ride was quiet. Harry was scared at first but the sensation of flying was oddly nice, it helped that he was surrounded by the luxury of first class. Malfoy was seated next to the window with Hermione in the middle and him in the aisle. Malfoy was supposed to play a childhood friend and all of them were supposed to play at having a happy vacation.

 

Their hotel was simply grand. Hermione and him were sharing a suite while Malfoy was two rooms down. Malfoy had left to his room and Hermione had entered their suite with no hesitation as he stood awkwardly by the door. As she entered the bedroom he quietly closed the door.

 

“I’m thinking we can both share the bed, it's certainly big enough.”

 

The bed was remarkably large, “I can take the couch.”

 

She fixed him with a glare as she hauled her suitcase to the bed and began emptying it, “Don’t be ridiculous we both need our sleep.”

 

Harry was surprised at her logical reasoning and was even more surprising when she was done packing so quickly.

 

“You should take a nap, we’ll be going to a nightclub later tonight to make first contact with Mclaggen.”

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

Hermione looked at him as she put on her jacket, “I have work to do.”

  
  


**************************************

 

Draco had just showered when Potter knocked on his door.

 

“Granger kicked you out?”

 

“She left actually.”

 

Potter was trying very hard to act natural, Draco could see that he wasn’t comfortable being in a room with him while he was half naked. It was almost funny enough for him to ignore the fact that his partner has gone rogue.

 

Almost.

 

“You should listen to Granger, you're going to have to bring your A game tonight and you can’t do that if you're exhausted.”

 

Potter looked like he was going to argue but Draco interrupted him, “I also have work to do, unless you want to stay and enjoy the show?”

 

Potter’s eyes widened and he quickly left muttering about fucking blonde aresholes. Draco would have laughed but he had to go and check on their little CIA agent. Tom is going to be furious if he found out that Granger had managed to evade him.

 

Draco picked up his phone. It was times like these that he was glad he picked up Theo’s habit of putting trackers on everyone he worked with.

 

****************************

 

Hermione was not pleased with the way things were. She had to wait for Sirius’s contact for half an hour before the man decided to show himself. She realized that there was no such thing as too cautious when it came to their line of work but some people really pushed it. The thing was she couldn’t just leave, she needed her weapons. She had decided to not travel with them to avoid any suspicion and unnecessary showing of badges and even more unnecessary Sirius intervention and she regretted it now.

 

The man showed up and left a small carry-on bag next to her. Whatever was inside, it better be good.

 

There was a sudden beep from her phone and she fished it out of her pocket. What notification popped out on the screen made her smile a bit before she carried the suitcase and walked into the park opposite the bench that she waited on for the past thirty minutes or so. She waved at Malfoy from afar and he started walking towards her and the nearer he got the more pronounced the scowl became.

 

“How did you know?”

 

“The same way you did, trackers.”

 

“I didn't think you had the time to put trackers on me.”

 

“You underestimate me.”

 

He nodded at the bag, “What's in the bag?”

 

“Weapons.”

 

He chuckled, “You Americans and you’re guns.”

 

She glared at him, “Not all of these are guns, they're also bugs and more trackers and sound equipment.”

 

He raised his brown and the taunting look in his face did not go away, “Impressive.”

 

She sighted, “Was there a reason you decided to follow me.”

 

“You do understand that we’re a team right?”

 

Hermione prickled at his tone.

 

“You can’t just go rogue, you need to consult me, you’re not alone anymore and any thing you do can lead all of us to death.”

 

Hermione was not used to being lectured. She was usually giving the lecture and being at the receiving end of it, made her understand why partners at the beginning of her career hated her. 

 

“Relax Malfoy I  know what I’m doing?”

 

He didn’t look like he believed her but they both made their way back to the hotel and they even sneaked the suitcase by hotel security. Hermione could have done it herself but it was much easier with Malfoy and while she was still of the opinion that he was an obnoxious pain in the ass, he was at least competent to give support when needed. That was more than she could say to the majority of people she had worked with in the past.

 

********************************************

 

Harry had followed hermione’s advice and taken a nap and it had helped his mood greatly. He was so exhausted that he took a shower and slept for hours. He woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door. 

After a couple of seconds of trying to remember where he was and what he was doing he got up to open it. He narrowly avoided Malfoy knocking on his forehead.

 

“You’re awake, good,” Malfoy strode inside the room and started to rummage through his suitcases pulling out a variety of shirts and trousers.

 

“What time is it?”

 

“Time for you to get ready or else we won’t catch McLaggen.”

 

Harry cursed and made his way to the bathroom.

 

**************************************

 

Draco would never be caught dead saying it but Granger cleaned up well. She had gotten ready very quickly and still managed to look as if she spent hours on her looks. Her hair was let down and she was wearing a dark blue skin tight mini skirt and a full sleeved top that showed how hard CIA field agents worked.

 

The club that they went to was dark and the beat was electrifying, Draco spied at least three drug dealers and he was pretty sure the club was a front to prostitution ring. He would have to include that in his report and hope that the Italian government would do something about it. Tom would never let the opportunity to show off his agents and simultaneously build relationships with overseas governments pass. Draco knew how ruthless his handler can be, he just tried not to think about it too often. The last time he asked too many questions did not go well for him.

 

A nudge brought him out of his memories as Granger discreetly nodded towards the VIP section where McLaggen was seated.

 

He ordered a scotch from the bar and nodded at her as she grabbed Potter’s hand and dragged him to McLaggen.

 

Draco did not know how she was planning to draw McLaggen’s  attention but he was more than happy to leave the heavy lifting to her. He looked around and zeroed in one of the girls that had left the VIP section looking very dejected. There was intel to gather.

 

*****************************

 

McLaggen was too easy. All she had to do was enter the VIP section draped on Harry’s arms. She made sure to meet his eyes, to sit close to his table, to sit very close to Harry with her back to him, that was mainly to hide Harry’s very flustered face.

 

“Look, this is a job, just act.”

 

Harry seemed just as flustered as ever but he took two deep breaths and opened his eyes and nodded. The change was almost instant.

 

He snaked his hands around her waist and nuzzled her neck. He drew himself closer and his grip was firm. To anyone watching, they looked like a couple going at it. Only Harry and her knew the truth. It was a secret that they shared and it felt kind of nice.

 

After a bit Harry stood up and walked towards the bar, ignoring the waiter asking him if he needed anything. He was following  the plan perfectly, giving McLaggen the chance to approach her. She made sure that her eyes followed him and that McLaggen was watching her watching Harry. 

 

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

 

It was almost pathetic.

 

“I do hope that you don’t see the same faces everytime you go to a club.”

 

“This club is very exclusive, this section even more so.”

 

She looked him in the eye,”The owner is a friend.”

 

That was partially true, Draco knew the owner and that was all they required to get their names on the list.

 

“How rude of me,” he held out his hand, “I’m Cormac.”

 

She extended her hand to meet his for a hand shake only for him to turn it and kiss her hand, “Penelope.”

 

By the time Harry came back with their drinks, Hermione had already grown bored with McLaggen's egotistical drivel. The moment Harry returned she turned in his direction and gave him all her attention. Harry, to his credit, did his part perfectly and casted a suspicious look McLaggen's way.

 

When Hermione gained a gleam in his eye Hermione knew that he had fallen for their little act.

 

When he proceeded to invite both Penelope and James to dinner the next night she gave Malfoy a look and he raised his scotch glass at them from across the club.

 

***************************

  
  


Draco was going to admit that it was hilarious watching Granger like this. She knew what she was doing, as she played McLaggen and the fool fell for it. When Potter came back and she completely ignored McLaggen for him, he almost snorted. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book. Show them what they can have and then snatch it away.

 

The mission was a success and he knew that he could have something to report to Tom in the morning. Draco was a bit suspicious with how quick McLaggen fell for it but he knew that if Granger felt that they were compromised she would signal him.

 

He hated to admit it, but working with her wasn’t so bad. She kept to herself and knew what to do and most importantly she didn’t bother him with stupid questions.This mission made it clear that the reason he never noticed the two times he had met her was because she didn’t want him to notice her. When she wanted she exuded this presence that screamed of confidence and experience, it was too grand to be artificial. This meant was she knew how to play the docile and plain card and that’s what scared him the most.

 

He made his way out of the club knowing that Granger would make sure that Potter arrived at the hotel safety. He had work to do.

 

***********************************

 

Harry was exhausted by the time they arrived at the hotel. The whole night seemed to be a back and forth between McLaggen and Hermione. Not that she talked as much as the guy. Harry was pretty sure he had a headache.

 

The room was quiet when they entered and Malfoy was nowhere in sight.

 

“I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

 

It was almost like she could read his mind.

 

“You show your emotions on your face, we’ll have to work on that.”

 

He nodded and watched as she untucked her top from her skirt and took off her earrings.

 

“You can have the shower first.”

 

She gave him a grateful smile and Harry tried not to blush like a school child. As he heard the water from the shower, he tried not to think about how soft the skin on Hermione’s neck was and how amazing she looked in a mini skirt.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this story has been amazing and I can't believe people are actually reading what I'm writing!  
> Thank you all this story has about 130 hits and that more people than I have ever known.


	4. Harry has a very hard time, Draco is an asshole and Hermione watches

Hermione was worried. McLaggen had sent her the address of the restaurant that he was meeting them at, and it was not good.

 

If their  intel was correct, and it usually was, the restaurant was a front to cover Crouch’s many illegal operations and they were having dinner there tonight. They would be there alone with McLaggen on his home turf. Even if Malfoy enters the restaurant with them he won’t be enough back-up if things go awry. There was also Harry  to consider, he can not be harmed.

Things could be easier if she could discuss this with her partner but he hadn’t returned to his room yet.

She could have followed him but she knew that he was trying to gather as much intel as he could. He let her do her job yesterday and did not doubt her so she will extend him the same courtesy.

 

When Malfoy did arrive at the hotel he found her leaning on the door next to his door.

 

“Morning Granger,” he entered his key card in the slot and motioned into the room when the door opened, “Please enter.”

 

“I do not appreciate you disappearing for half the day.”

 

He raised a very blonde eyebrow, “You’re not my handler, Granger.”

 

“No but I am your partner,” she opened her phone and showed him the address that McLaggen sent her.

 

He looked at the phone and she knew he was confused until he realized the address.

 

“Do you think he knows?”

 

“I don’t know I thought we did a pretty good job but McLaggen is no idiot.”

 

Malfoy sighted and made his way to the mini bar, “There is a possibility that this a test to see if you guys know anything or not.”

 

“So you think we should proceed as normal.”

 

He took a sip of his scotch, “It’s your life in danger Granger, backing down now would be understandable but it could lead him to raise up his guard.”

 

She fixed her gaze on him, “If anything happens, getting Harry out of there is your first priority.”

 

He scoffed, “If anything happens then I’m sure we are all going to be dead.”

 

“Malfoy, promise me.”

 

“Get him out of there yourself Granger, I’m not about to do your job for you.”

 

Hermione was taken back by his admission. He trusted her to do her job and knew that she could pull her own weight. Malfoy had just admitted that he trusted her. Not entirely but enough to know that she will finish the job. It was probably the nicest thing that he had said to her since they met, granted she was trying to kill him when they first met him.

 

“Now get out, I’m tired and you need all the time you can get to tame the beast you call a hair for tonight.”

 

“Thank you Malfoy.”

 

“ Do try to look presentable Granger, we do need McLaggen to feel attracted to you.”

 

******************

 

Harry was nervous.

 

The dinner was about to start at eight thirty. It was ten past eight and they still haven't left the hotel. Hermione was sitting on an armchair, fully decked out in her outfit for the night, reading a book.

Malfoy was standing and sipping from a glass of scotch. Harry didn’t think it was a good idea for him to drink just before this mission but Malfoy was the expert.

 

“We’re going to be late.”

 

Malfoy scoffed from the corner of the room,  “You have to keep him waiting Potter, make him lose control for once.”

 

Hermione nodded from her armchair and then glanced at the watch on her wrist, “We should head out, though, we don’t want to keep him waiting for long.”

 

Harry tried to keep his relief to himself and he suspected that he was unsuccessful. It was something Hermione was trying to teach him. His face could give them away when this operation became serious. Harry couldn’t help himself, it was part of who he was, he couldn’t just adopt a constant poker face lik Malfoy or switch to nonchalant at the drop of a hat like Hermione. It only made the fact that he didn’t know what he was doing all the more clear.

 

Hermione held his hand as they entered the lift, and the feeling of her palm in his was reassuring and gave him warmth. He took a deep breath and tried to remember that this was more than him getting answers about his family. Malfoy nodded at them as the lift doors closed. Harry couldn’t help but think that he would have felt better if the three of them were to enter the restaurant together. They had to keep up the act. James and Penelope were an open minded, rich and extremely bored couple, who were willing to entertain a third. McLaggen had to believe it and so Harry tightened his hand around Hermione’s, from the corner of his eye he could see a faint smile appear on her face and his worries quietened for the time being.

 

The restaurant that Mclaggen was waiting in was very fancy. Harry was certain that if it wasn’t for the lessons that Draco gave him in proper etiquette and how to pronounce Italian dishes he would have been doomed. Mclaggen is supposed to be an elitist with a taste for expensive things, even in his lovers. Harry was certain tonight was a test to determine if they were worth further perusal, that they didn't just make their way into the VIP section of a club by mistake.

 

He will not ruin this for Hermione and Malfoy. 

 

Mclaggen was clearly attracted to Hermione more than he was to Harry. He didn't  let his eyes wander from her face for a minute while they were making their way to his table.

 

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up.”

 

“And miss the chance to get further acquainted?”

 

Mclaggen held her hand and kissed it  and then glanced at Harry behind her, his eyes lit up but he said nothing and offered him his hand to shake. 

 

The night was filled with laughing and wine and delicious food. McLaggen liked to talk about himself a lot and he would occasionally ask them a question, one that Hermione would answer.  It was after desert that he truly started to flirt with them and Hermione made their interest very clear.

 

“While your interest in me is very flattering, I must inform you that I’m part of a deal.”

 

McLaggen held her eyes for a long time and then his eyes shifted to Harry. He was shocked to see genuine attraction in the businessman's eyes, Mclaggen then smiled.

 

“I’m sure that we can come to an arrangement.”

  
  
  
***********************************  
  
  


“He doesn’t like me as much.”

 

“Don’t beat yourself over it Potter, you just don't stand a chance next to Granger.”

 

Hermione had seemed exhausted by the time they left the restaurant, Harry guessed it had to with the fact that she had to keep up her guard for the whole dinner and makes sure that she played the part. He had let her take a bath while he shared a drink with Malfoy on the balcony.

 

“What do you mean?”

Malfoy sighted, “ This is our job Potter, this is not the first time she dealt with men like Mclaggen.”

 

Harry took a sip of his drink because he wasn’t sure why the idea of hermione seducing men like McLaggen bothered him.

 

“Right now she’s making sure that she’s everything McLaggen ever wanted and that is exhausting you have to play an act, second guess every thought and comment  and make sure that they believe that is who you truly are.”

 

“I had no idea.”

 

“Are you prepared to go to the lengths she is?”

 

Harry turned to Malfoy and found him uncomfortably close, he hadn’t even heard him get out of his chair.

 

Malfoy looked at him and then held his hand to brush Harry’s hair out of his forehead,  “Are you prepared to do everything to make McLaggen believe?”

 

Malfoy's eyes briefly glanced to Harry’s lips and Harry could feel his heart beating so loudly he wondered if Malfoy could hear it too. The blonde was inching his face closer and closer and he tilted his head so that there was only a breath between their lips. Harry closed his eyes and his breath hitched in his throat. He waited for a kiss that never came.

 

Malfoy stepped away from him and smirked as he picked up his drink and took a sip,”It’s  good to know that you’ll be responsive if McLaggen ever approached you separately.”

 

Harry gave Malfoy a look full of indignation as he walked through the open balcony doors and inside the room to where Hermione was drying her hair with a towel and clad in a bathrobe, watching them.

 

She looked at Malfoy as he put his glass on the coffee table and walked to the door. 

 

“Good night and Potter do try not to dream about me tonight.”

 

The door closed behind him and Harry gave Hermione a look of shock as she stared at him.

 

“He didn’t go about it the same way I did but we do need to know that you can sleep with McLaggen if the mission calls for it.”

 

“So we’re actually going to do that.”

 

“You never know, we need to establish ourselves as part of his life and get into the party.”

 

Harry swallowed, “If it comes down to it I think I can do it.”

 

She smiled at him and walked into the bedroom. A part of him whispered that sleeping with McLaggen would mean sleeping with her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason writing Harry is the hardest but his insight is so very important. Honestly I'm blown away with the amount of feedback I got on this story its amazing and I want to thank everyone who bookmarked, left kudos and even read it. 
> 
> Thank you all so much!


	5. Harry is a dork and Draco and Hermione have a not so pleasant past

Draco had known that with his job there were certain dangers. It just came with the job, but having to meet with Blaise Zabini was never one of those dangers. He was sure that this was worse than the time he had to escape that high security prison in Brazil. He didn't have to put up with as much cunning and mockery while shooting the security guards. 

 

“I didn’t know that you could still afford this type of life Malfoy.”

 

Draco almost winced at the memories the implication bought on, “The scandal did put a dent in the Malfoy fortune but  we have multiple assets that they couldn’t capture.”

 

Blaise looked at him for what seemed like an eternity and then simply nodded, “I suppose  that’s a good thing, you haven’t told me why you’re in Italy yet.”

 

“I was hoping you could do me a favour.”

 

Blaise  took a sip of his drink and then slowly put the cup down, he never let his eyes waver from Draco’s and the club simply melted away as Draco was moved back in time. 

 

“So giving you and your friends almost exclusive access to all my clubs isn’t enough.”

 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask for a bit more.”

If it wasn’t for his years of training at the hands of Tom he would’ve missed her on the edge of the dance floor. He broke his eye contact at Blaise and watched her as she left the club quickly, she had seen him spot her. 

 

Blaise  scoffed and picked up his drink, “Whatever you need.”

 

“Blaise …”

 

“Just go, it’s what comes easy to you anyway.”

 

Draco almost winced but he couldn’t. He nodded and left the club knowing that she’ll be waiting for him in his hotel room. He honestly didn’t want to face her, didn’t want to answer her questions and her eyes. He didn’t want to think about the coldness in Blaise . The way he looked at him with absolute indifference. It hurt Draco.There was nothing he regretted more than the way things had played out with Blaise. He had been young and stupid and had hoped that by leaving he would make things easier for both of them. Things had not been easy.

 

**********************************************

  
  


The room was dark except for the soft glow from the lamp next to the armchair.

 

“Never thought you would be this dramatic.”

 

“Never thought you would leave without telling me you’re whereabouts again, guess we’re both mistaken.”

 

Draco frowned, he didn’t owe her anything, “Oh you removed your head from Potter’s ass long enough to notice my absence?”

 

Her eyes were lit ablaze, “ I know it’s hard for you to stop thinking about Harry’s ass but that is a conversation for another time.”

 

Draco almost burst out laughing, Granger could be funny when she wanted, it was a remarkable thing to know.

 

“Is he still uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping with McLaggen?”

 

She shrugged her shoulders and Draco had to stop himself from looking at the exposed skin of her arms and neck. “He seems to have come to terms with it.”

 

“Then I did my job, admit it Granger it was frustrating watching him battle with his attraction to men.”

 

“You should have let him discover himself at his own pace.”

 

“I’m sure Potter has discovered himself thoroughly, especially to ideas of you and I.”

 

Draco wasn’t sure because of the dark but he could almost see a blush on Granger’s cheeks.

 

“Don’t change the subject.”

 

“I just said what we have both been thinking.”

 

“He does make it quite obvious doesn’t he?”

 

“It’s part of the charm I suppose.”

 

Her eyes sprang to meet his in surprise and a silent agreement came between them. They would not mention this again they both knew what lay at the other side of this mission it was either death or separation. In each case Potter was too good to get heavily involved.

 

“You should have told me who you were meeting.”

 

“It was none of your business.”

 

“The plan could go a hundred times smoother if you can convince him to cooperate.”

 

“I’m not putting him in risk like that Granger.”

 

She sighted and again Draco had to keep his eyes on her face rather than the rise and fall of her chest. What was wrong with him? He should not be thinking of such things after just seeing Blaise . Granger drew his attention as she stood up and slowly walked to the door behind him.

 

“Just make sure that you don’t get hurt, the mission can not be compromised.”

 

He wanted to point out the hypocrisy of her advice but he let her be, a part of him thought that she was thinking from a place of experience. They were two field agents in charge of this mission and one of them was already too emotionally invested if he let his relationship with Blaise dictate his thoughts this whole thing would go to shit. He had to be her mind when she wasn’t thinking straight.  _ Fuck. _

 

He knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep and so he sat on the empty armchair still warm from Granger’s body heat, but not uncomfortably so, and poured himself a drink. Seeing Blaise had been necessary but after all these years Draco was plagued with memories. He and Blaise had gone to school together, Blaise had been his best friend and his confidant. The only person in that school filled with rich and elitist sociopaths that he could understand and trust. He had repaid him by betraying that trust.

 

It happened at the same time that his father was sent to prison for being involved in a hate crime in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Paris, famous for housing immigrants. Five houses were set on fire, four people died and ten were injured. The scandal rocked the country, such a powerful public official and businessman involved in murder and racism. The aftermath was a disaster. Draco had to sit through trials and see as his family legacy was destroyed, hear testimonies were the families of those lost and injured spoke about the night of the fire and see his mother lose a bit of herself everyday. His father and his accomplices were imprisoned, the evidence found was too incriminating to leave any doubt of their guilt. Draco dropped out of school and then Tom approached him with an offer he could not resist. He left everything behind, the few friends he had and the fewer family, to train and live as a field agent.

 

Blaise  had never given up hope though, he had tried to call him multiple times, left him voicemails and written actual letters to his old address and even came to visit his old apartment once or twice. And then there was the job that had Draco seducing the wife of a rich oil tycoon. It wasn’t the tycoon himself that was the problem but rather the wife, who Riddle suspected of some less than ideal dealings, Draco was supposed to gain access to her assets and find evidence of her criminal activity.  It was fair to say that he was shocked when he found out she was Blaise’s mother. Tom had not deemed the information important and forgot to mention it in the file. Draco himself had never seen the women as Blaise never had any pictures of her and she was always too busy to spend time with her son and his friends. Blaise had found out and he had hated Draco ever since. Draco had left without a word, spent years without any sort of contact and then came back to sleep with his mother and try to send her to jail and leave Blaise destitute, only to disappear again. Draco did not blame Blaise for hating him. 

 

He was a despicable human being and here he was surrounded by two such good people. Draco had no illusions, like Potter, who looked at Granger as if she could do no wrong, he, unlike Potter, knew the type of person it took to to be successful in their field of work. He was sure that Granger was forced to do horrible things, things that if she had been any other person she would have been opposed to, but she persisted with her bright outlook on life. She still sought to help people like her mentor and Potter, even himself on occasion. That made her good, she still had faith in basic human decency even when their job made them see the absolute scum of humanity.

 

Potter was just naive and innocent, he had lived a horrible life devoid of any parental figures and knowing nothing of the truth that took his parents away. He had faced abuse in the hands of his caretakers and had lived his life afraid of what the future might hold for him. Potter still had goodness inside of him in spades, the self righteous kind, the kind where he rushed into trouble without a thought to the consequences. 

 

Granger and Potter were too good for him but he supposed that was why he was here. They needed someone to ground them and stop them from flying too close to the sun and burning in the flames of their disappointment and failure. It was his job to protect them from that at least and to help them to understand that sometimes things were more complicated than black and white. 

 

The world could use less of him and more of Grangers and Potters and if the way Potter kept looking at Granger when he thought she wasn’t paying attention was any indication then the world would get them.

 

If it was ready to handle them was another question.

 

*******************************************************************

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hermione was really getting tired of McLaggen, they had gone on several outings and he still had done nothing more than kiss them both once. If she didn’t trust Luna with her life she would have seriously doubted the intel describing him as a huge flirt and player.

 

Right now he was dropping them off for the night and seemed to be nervous.

 

“Would you like to come up for a night cap?”

 

Hermione saw Harry falter in his steps as they walked up the steps of their hotel but she ignored it and looked at McLaggen who seemed surprised and pleased at her offer.

 

“All in due time my dear Penelope.”

 

She quireked her eyebrow at him and saw Harry trying to hold his laugh, “We might get impatient Cormac you understand that we would want the most of our vacation.”

 

He sighted as if he was dealing with a child, “Tell you what the company I work for has a charity gala two days from now and I would love it if you both would attend as my guests.”

 

Hermione smiled and fixed him with her best seductress look, “I look forward to it.”

 

He took both of their hands in his and kneeled down to kiss hers and then Harry’s, never letting his eyes wander from theirs, “Not as much as I will.”

  
  
  
  


****************************************************

 

Harry was so bloody relieved that they had finally gotten the invitation. He practically skipped to their room, Hermione following him with a slight smile.

 

“We should tell Malfoy.”

 

“He already knows I’m sure.”

 

Harry was about to ask how she knew when Hermione lifted her skirt to reveal a shocking amount of tanned and toned thigh and ripped something from the seam. Harry walked closer to see what it was. It was small and made of metal with small hooks on the side, to hang on to the seam of the skirt apparently.

 

“Its a bug.”

 

“You knew it was there the whole time?”

 

“Of course I did, but in case we needed back up I had to keep it.”

 

Harry was left looking at her with awe as she made her way into the bathroom. When she came back he had already changed into a pair of pyjama bottoms and a light blue shirt. Hermione looked at him sitting on a chair next to the balcony and and made her way to the bar.

 

“I suggest we celebrate.”

 

“I don't think getting drunk is a good idea right now.”

 

“We won't get drunk,” she fixed him with a look and then shrugged as she settled on the floor facing the balcony doors, “At least I won't.”

 

Harry smiled as he sat down next to her, “You seem very confident.”

 

He was awarded with a smile as she poured both of them some scotch.

 

“How did you get involved in this life?”

 

Hermione quirked her eyebrow at him and this time he laughed until he saw the confused look on her face, “You just look like Malfoy when you do that.”

 

She took a sip of her drink and completely ignored him until his laughter stopped.

 

“My parents died when I was very young.”

 

Harry was pretty sure that he had never had a conversation that turned that awkward that fast.

 

“I was in the system for a long time and then when I was about ten I was fostered by this man who had some shady buisness, he fostered me and a bunch of other kids and then used us to try and sell drugs to kids in our school.”

 

“That’s horrible.”

 

She nodded, “I was a pretty smart kid and the school noticed they got this woman from a private school for gifted individuals to come assess my performance, I got accepted but my guardian refused.”

 

“I’m guessing that didn’t end well.”

 

She laughed and took another sip, “The thing is I wanted to go because I wanted the challenge, so I planned an escape I was going to go to the neighbourhood precinct and tell them everything.”

 

“Are you fucking serious?”

 

“Yeah I even bought some guns with me so that they would believe me.”

 

“That's the most badass thing I've ever heard, how old were you again?”

 

“Ten,it didn’t work one of his lackeys caught me. It turned out that there was already an FBI investigation on the guy and he was a field agent undercover, he promised to help me if I helped him by keeping the other kids from trying to escape.”

 

“Are they serious, you were ten!” Harry couldn’t even fathom dealing with all that pressure at that age.

“I didn’t do much, told him everything that happened when he wasn’t there and when it was all over he took me in.”

 

“And he let you be an agent.”

 

Hermione scoffed at that and a light shone in her eyes, “He was opposed to the idea but his boss thought I had potential so he took over my training, that’s how I got here.”

 

“Do you still keep in touch?”

 

“He’s my handler now. The closest thing I have to family,” Hermione had this far away look on her face but her eyes were ablaze with determination and love, “I would do anything for him.”

 

Harry understood where she was coming from, he was also an orphan and his childhood was horrible until he was eleven and met the Weasleys, they had took him in as best as they could. Harry understood where Hermione was coming from because he too would do anything to repay the kindness Molly and Arthur Weasley had shown him. Hermione shifted beside him and he looked at her as she again took a sip of her drink. Her hair was loose and a bit frizzy at the ends, now that she had taken off her makeup he could see the freckles on the bridge of her nose and the slight bags under her eyes. 

 

“So what do you do for fun usually.”

 

She seemed surprised at his question, “I read.”

 

“Read what?”

 

“Anything I find interesting, I do prefer non-fiction though.”

 

The look on his face must have given away what he thought about her hobbies because she started laughing and the sound reminded him of a sweet song. With that thought he had an idea and he made his way to the sound system in the corner.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“You’ll see,” he said as he connected his phone and chose a song.

 

The speakers started blaring a happy tune and he danced his way to a laughing Hermione. He pulled her up despite her protests and danced for a bit, laughing all the time at the fact that they were both horrible. Song after song played until a sort of sorrow melody played and they just swayed. He had his arms around her waist and she had hers wrapped around his neck, he could smell the products she used on her hair and feel the softness of it as he bent down and the brown strands tickled his cheek

 

Swaying there in the hotel bedroom with Hermione in his arms he couldn’t help but think that this mission was shaping up to be better than he thought.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took a lot of work for some reason I always struugle to write Harry and then school came in the way and things just got crazy
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter!


	6. They all go to the Gala

Draco had to go to great lengths to obtain the invitation to the charity gala. Lengths that he was sure could have been shortened by one phone call from Tom but was his handler was never one to just hand him things. He claimed it was his way to maintain Draco’s sharpness but Draco suspected that Tom just wanted to give him extra hell for the sake of entertainment.

 

Watching people suffer was the kind of entertainment that sick fuck would enjoy. The day of the gala was spent going over plans and double checking all of their weapons, comms and exit strategies. Draco would never say this in her presence or out loud even but Granger was thorough as fuck. She seemed to have thought of everything and made plans B,C and D. She spent the whole day head bent over blueprints, pictures of targets and influential people and still had time to get ready by their set time. It was kind of hot how she managed it all. They all met in his room before heading out, McLaggen had to go to the venue earlier so he had sent a car to pick up Potter and Granger, Draco would make his way to the venue in a different car and meet them there under the guise of also getting an invitation due to business connections the same way he got them to that club the first night.

 

The car was due any minute and they were all waiting, this was it the night that the second phase of their plan would start, if everything goes well they would avoid Crouch and manage to talk to Lupin. Draco was already hoping that he would live to manage to give a report to Tom tomorrow. Potter was fidgeting in the armchair, while Granger was reading another book something about the Rwandan genocide. They were both dressed to the nines. Potter in a black tuxedo that was classy and elegant nothing too extravagant, Draco was a firm believer that quality spoke louder than any childish attempts of drawing attention by being “ fashion forward”, his mother has taught him that and Potter’s suit was of the highest quality. Granger was dressed in the dress he got her for after their shopping trip, something about the fact that he chose this outfit made it seem so much more special, while he had been given the job of making sure Potter looked his part, Granger was an agent and didn’t need any help. The dress was flattering and covered her arms, where the bruises were covered with heavy makeup. They couldn't risk McLaggen seeing them if she ever took off her dress. While Draco knew that sleeping with McLaggen would earn his trust a part of him hoped that it never came down to it. He was uncomfortable with the idea and that was not good for the mission or their chances of survival.

 

A phone ring interrupted the silence and Granger picked it up.

 

She nodded as someone on the other side spoke, “We’ll be right down.”

 

Draco looked at them both, “Be careful and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

 

Potter nodded at him and walked over to Granger so she can loop her arm around the crook of his elbow, they walked out of the room looking like the perfect couple and Draco ignored how his chest hurt at the scene.

 

He waited ten minutes and then made his way downstairs whatever happened tonight was going to be big and he had to make sure they all lived to see it to the very end.

 

*****************

 

Hermione was nervous.

 

That was something she would never tell Harry though, she could tell that he wasn’t comfortable and that he was afraid, she had to be his rock. Hermione sometimes forgot that Harry was a civilian, it was a true testament to how well he handled all of this but that was a mistake on her part. She could not forget that he needed protection that whether she liked it or not he was basically bait to lure Lupin into making contact.

 

She moved her hand down to his and held his hand, giving it a tiny squeeze. He looked at her and she looked forward never meeting his eye. She would make sure nothing happened to him.

 

The car pulled up in front of the art gallery where the event was being hosted and they got off.

 

“What if nothing goes as planned?”

 

“I planned everything that is impossible.”

 

They made their way up the steps.

 

“What if McLaggen decides he’s bored with us.”

 

“Unlikely he talked to us for an hour on the phone this morning.”

 

They stood in front of the doors and the two guards looked at their invitations and opened the heavy double doors.

 

“What if Lupin doesn’t want to talk to me?”

 

She looked at him, “Harry you are more loved than you realize, I’m sure that Lupin had his reasons and you get to know them tonight.”

 

He nodded and they walked through the doors hand in hand.

 

The venue was gorgeous  the gallery had high ceilings and the whole room was adorned with gold and white. It wasn’t just classy it was incredibly beautiful and extravagant, almost dream like. McLaggen may have been an arrogant playboy but he had amazing taste. They made their way through the people trying to find their unofficial suitor for the night. They found him talking to an old man and an incredibly handsome young man with high cheekbones and smooth dark skin. McLaggen saw them and waved them over. He hugged her and firmly shook Harry’s hand and then turned to the two men.

 

“James, Penelope meet Amos Diggory, he owns a large number of the pieces on display tonight and Blaize Zabini.”

 

Hermione and Harry held out their hands to the two men. 

 

“It was nice talking to you again Cormac, if you excuse me I need to find my son.”

 

Hermione noticed Harry tense by her side.

 

“Cedric is here?”

 

Diggory froze and turned to Harry, “You know my son?”

 

“ We played against his school, he was a couple of years older than me, I met him when I was fourteen.”

 

Diggory’s entire stance changed, “That’s my boy always the superstar.”

 

He smiled at them again and then looked at Harry, “Maybe you’ll get the chance to meet again before the end of the night?”

 

Harry nodded and Hermione had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

 

Diggory left and Zabini turned to McLaggen, “ Well, Cormac seems that your latest conquests has a history with the pretty boys.”

 

Harry’s whole face turned red, “Excuse me.”

 

“Oh look he even blushes, I thought you’d grow out of lusting after the naive and virginail ones but then again based on his reaction when it came to Cedric he’s not so virginail.”

 

Before Harry could say anything Hermione beat him to it, “Are you jealous because he didn’t have the same reaction to you or because he knows Cedric?”

 

Zabini seemed shocked but he schooled his expression in an instant, “I like you, you’re more my type than McLaggen, how about later we can give both of your dates a show?”

 

This time McLaggen interrupted Harry from saying something he’ll regret.

 

“I actually met them in one of your clubs, they were in the VIP section said something about knowing you.”

 

Zabini’s face morphed into a look of confusion and then slow understanding.

 

“You must be Draco’s friends, he didn’t tell me about you guys.”

 

Harry frowned, “Funny he never said anything about you either.”

 

McLaggen laughed and clapped Harry on the back, “Knew you had to have some spirit in you how else would you have snagged this lovely lady here?”

 

Zabini smirked and Hermione was shocked how much it looked like Malfoy’s, “Well excuse me  I have to go talk to your boss Cormac and you must be dying for some alone time with your companions.”

 

He nodded at them and left.

 

“Always up to something that one, come on let me show you around maybe even introduce you to those who work in our research department.”

 

Hermione smiled, all she had to do was lie that she got a chemistry major and fake some documents and already McLaggen was trying to impress her by giving her exactly what she wants. The fact that Blaize Zabini was here was a small hiccup but one that could be avoided. She trusted Malfoy not just because he was competent but because she understood that he would never do anything to jeopardize this night. Malfoy had come to care for Harry the same way she had, even if he wouldn't admit it. 

 

In the next few hours they met a lot of people and even though all of them were important Hermione could tell Harry wasn’t in it. PLaying the part of the trust fund baby was hard for him and with possibility of meeting Lupin in the horizon she could tell that he was nervous. After a while she knew that he needed a break so she slowly broke them away for a dance.

 

“You need to breathe.” 

 

“I know, do you think anyone else noticed?”

 

“I think you’re okay but if it helps we can go get some fresh air?”

 

Harry squeezed her hand and his hold on her waist tightened, “I’ll be okay.”

 

There was a polite cough and they both turned to see McLaggen he motioned if he can cut in and Harry stepped back to let him take Hermione’s hand and then walked away.

“Is he always like that.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Brooding.”

 

Hermione smirked, “It’s part of the charm.”

 

McLaggen laughed, “I’m sure.”

 

*************************************************

 

Harry was nervous and afraid and he could feel that he needed a break.

A break from being James and from McLagan and from all the old men trying to get him to invest more and more of his fortune away. Hermione had said that best disguises were the ones that had some truth to them, harder to proof wrong and more efficient as less documents had to be faked, Malfoy had rolled his eyes at that. So Harry Potter became James Hive, a trust fund baby whose parents gave him free reign of the family fortune and who came to Italy with his significant other Penelope for a much needed retreat.

 

Harry made his way to the bathroom to get away from the crowds after McLaggen cut in to dance with Hermione. While he didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone he knew that she could handle herself. The bathroom was empty and Harry made his way to the sinks so that he can splash his face with water. He breathed in and out trying to calm down his beating heart and then loosened the bow tie from around his neck. The door to the bathroom opened and a man with brown hair entered. He turned and nodded at Harry only to freeze in his tracks when he saw his face in the mirror. Harry suddenly realized why the man seemed familiar from all the photos that Hermione showed him but also from his parent’s wedding album that his aunt gave him when he moved out. The man looked much older and had thin silver scars on his face, his hazel eyes shined with sadness and awe. Remus Lupin was looking at Harry as if he had seen a ghost.

 

“James?”

 

Harry sighted and turned around to face him. It was now or never.

  
  



	7. Hermione dances, Draco is in denial and Harry is still in the bathroom

Hermione was not having a good time, McLaggen was very talkative and while he did try to involve her in the conversation every once in a while,it was clear he was interested in himself more. It was such a change from the silent and closed off Malfoy and the shy Harry that she found herself temporality floored by it. He was still going on and on when a hand tapped his shoulder; McLaggen turned to see Draco Malfoy standing behind him.

 

“May I cut in?”

 

Hermione had never been more relieved in her life. McLaggen looked put out but he knew how rude it was to reject such a polite request, he turned back to her and bent down to kiss her hand. 

 

“I’ll see you in a bit, Penelope.”

 

********************************************

 

Draco Malfoy was not having a good time, he was not having a good time at all. Not only was this gala  giving him serious flashbacks about his life before his father became a domestic terrorist but also Blaise was here. Draco had stole a glance at him and had bolted out of sight so quick he was sure Granger, who always made sure he was in her line of sight, got whiplash. When Potter had left for the bathroom he had made his way to Granger only to find her dancing with McLaggen. She looked like she was hanging on his every word, which of course meant that she was bored out of her mind. He knew how Granger looked when she was actually interested on what was being said. Her whole face remained stoic except for a small frown between her brows and her eyes lit up with an unleashed flame of curiosity and intrigue. Right now she was bored out of her fucking mind and Draco would be a nice companion and rescue her from the evil clutches of McLaggen. 

 

He could pratcitiulary see her relief even if she hid it well from all others around her. McLaggen nodded at him and left. He stepped up and took her hand, and they didnt dance they floated, they  _ glided. _

He didn't know if it was her training but she followed him in every step, let him take control and he appreciated it, especially when everything seemed to be going to shit. Her eyes shone with understanding  and trust and Draco was stunned. He could sense the shift in their relationship; it went from antagonistic comraderie to a deep faith in the other’s abilities and skills, he just didn’t want to acknowledge it. There was so much shit going on right now, they were on a mission to track down one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist and to prevent him from getting his hands on weapons unimaginable, but for a bit he could forget about all of that, about their handlers and the threat to humanity and about Blaize and focus on Granger. His partner. 

 

“I’m worried about Harry, you trained him well but I can tell that he’s overwhelmed.”

Draco sighted and pushed the idea that worrying about Potter didn't distract from the almost trance-like dance, it felt almost natural.

 

“He still hasn’t left the restroom.”

 

The corner of Granger’s mouth lifted into a half smile, “You don’t think he fell and cracked his head open on the sink right?”

 

Draco scoffed, “It's a possibility but if he does spill blood on that suit then a head injury would be the least of his worries.”

 

A look of  disbelief came over her face and then realization, “You’re joking.”

 

“Not entirely, no.”

 

She gave him another smile and Draco could feel a rush inside of him; an unexplainable urge to bend down and kiss her and let Black and Tom and the entire world go to hell. He had a feeling that if he did then he wouldn’t be able to stop and he would just continue to feed on her life force and her fire until he consumed her, until there was nothing left. Draco wanted to get lost in her, to feel nothing but her and for them to become one in every way possible, to consume and be equally consumed.

 

But first he wanted to kiss her and to watch the world burn around them. 

 

“How did you grow up like this?”

 

He shrugged, “Mostly there are no children allowed in events like these and when I was old enough it was more to be seen than heard, impress guests with my manners and never voice my opinion and never interrupt, after a while you get used to it.”

 

Her eyes were filled with sadness and...admiration.

 

“I don't how you do it, I get exhausted every time I have to go to an event like this.”

 

The music changed as a new song began.

 

“You're a natural,” Draco couldn’t help but offer her a small amount of comfort. 

 

“Sirius came from a very blue blood family.” 

 

“I know,” Draco wondered if she knew how much blue blood really flowed in her handler’s veins, the Malfoy were very rich and prestigious but compared to the Blacks they were nothing but new money. He wondered if Granger knew how the older generations of Blacks thought of people like her and Potter; orphans with no roots. Nothing was as important to the Blacks as family and judging by the look of utter devotion and determination that came over Granger when her handler and father figure was mentioned, it was one belief that she shared with them. 

 

“ Is McLaggen glaring at me?”

 

“Oh definitely but he’s not the only one.”

 

Draco raised his brow at her and Granger looked at him as if she was afraid of his reaction.

 

“Zabini is looking at you.”

 

The words barreled towards Draco and seems to punch him in the gut, the only thing that grounded him was Granger’s hands on his shoulders. 

 

“What is Potter doing in that bathroom?” Draco hissed in a low voice.

 

Granger frowned a little but continued to dance until the music stopped and they parted and clapped for the full blown orchestra that was hired for the event. Granger looked at him and he knew that she was urging him to go check on Potter and he was going to do it until someone stepped up to Granger.

 

“May I have the next dance?”

 

The man had a full head white hair and was clean shaven, he looked young maybe mid 50’s but the energy around him was horribly captivating and dangerous. This was not a man to be trifled with and if Draco could feel it  then so could Granger. She smiled with all the decorum and attitude of a woman worthy of such an event and nodded at him, the man bowed to kiss her hand and then walked away not sparing a second look at them. Before Draco could speak to her, Granger looked at him again and then her eyes went to the direction of the restroom. Draco knew that she was asking him to trust her, she was putting Potter’s safety first and ignoring the fact that they were just approached by an unknown variable. The man could be just one of the many important men in this event; a pervert captivated by Granger, that was the best case scenario. There was also the possibility of him being a higher up and someone working with Crouch and so by extension Grindelwald. Draco was not alive today by acting based on the best case scenario. Still he would leave to find Potter, because he was a key part of this mission and because he was a civilian and definitely not because it would make Grainger relax and it was definitely not because he was starting to worry himself. He was halfway to the restroom when Blaise stood in his way.

 

“We need to talk.”

 

They used to have a stream that ran in the forest of their property, it was the border between them and the neighbour’s estate. Draco had gotten himself lost in the woods one day and had ended up falling in the stream, the water was ice cold, so cold it burned like a million tiny needles pricking his skin. He was rescued by his father, who rushed him home, called the doctor and slept by his bedside until his fever broke and he woke up. When summer came his father hired a professional swimmer to teach him. It was the only time that Draco remembered  his father showing any concern for him. Draco had cherished those moments and maybe it was those memories that he clung to, that blinded him to the person his father really was.

 

Standing there in front of Blaise it felt like falling into that stream all over again. Except this time there was no one to save him, no father to hold him close as he struggled against the water. Draco had went and fucked up, he had abandoned the only person who had never left him and then went and tried to stab him in the back. It didn’t matter that he didn't know what he was doing. Draco had made a mistake and never apologized and then went around asking for favours as if he hadn’t cut all ties for almost five years. Now here he was standing in front of the guy that used to be his best friend with no idea what to do. Potter was still in the bathroom and Granger was dancing with a stranger a few feet away. 

 

The fate of the world hung in the balance.

 

He nodded and followed Balise as they left the main ballroom. This was a conversation long due. 

 

***************************************

 

Remus Lupin was not what Harry expected. His aunt Petunia had kept one picture that his mother had sent her of her wedding. In it, his mother looked radiant and beautiful and his father had a giant grin on his face. There were a bunch of other people in the photo, Peter Pettigrew, who died in the same fire that killed his parents, Sirius Black who had one hand clasped on his father's shoulder and an easy smile on his face. Harry remembered going to the local library to search for any records of Black, trying to wrap his head around the fact that his parents were killed by one of their best friends. And then there was Remus Lupin, in the photo he stood next to Black with a shy smile but obvious happiness on his face, his sharp cheekbones and tired eyes looked alaraming, at the time Harry had just thought that Lupin was sick when the wedding happened but seeing him now he could tell that Lupin did not age well.

His light brown hair looked thin and had lost any life that it had twenty years ago, he was very tall and very thin and his face was marred with small, thin white scars and his eyes were sunken in. Those eyes were now starting wildly at him.

Harry knew the plan, he was supposed to tell Lupin that they were here to rescue him and to make sure that Lupin understood what his part was, it was all supposed to be very brief and succinct, nobody should be able to draw the connection between him and Lupin, any suspicions would make Malfoy’s and Hermione’s job that much harder. But looking at him now Harry couldn't bring himself to speak, he wanted to ask so many question, he wanted to somehow fill the void that came with never truly knowing his parents. Of missing something that he never got to know. He had always felt jealous of the love that the Weasleys had and while he understood motherly affection to some degree he had never experienced it fully in the same way that Ron and even Dudley had. Sure, Molly had tried her best and she was honestly the closest thing he had to a mother figure but every time he saw her fussing over Fred and George or fixing Ginny’s hair or patting Percy’s cheek when he rambled about his job a voice inside of him kept reminding him,  that the Weasleys weren’t really his family, that he had been robbed of affection and that people like him didn't just get to plant themselves into someone else’s family because they had none of their own. 

Lupin was his chance to finally find out the kind of people his parents were. To maybe catch a glimpse of the life that he may have had if it wasn't for a deadly fire and a maniac. Lupin was his last tie to the love that he was sure he had experienced at some point but could never remember. And Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to remember it, he wasn’t sure he wanted to experience the grief of knowing what he had missed out on, of what the the world had taken from him. But then he remembered Hermione with her easy smile and her bright eyes. She hadn’t known her parents either and she had lived her life in the system until someone fostered her for the sake of using her as a front to his trafficking business. She had lived her entire life in fear till she had mustered enough courage to run to the police and then they had asked her to go back to that misery. Hermione had managed to thrive though, she too had chosen a family for herself and she didn’t seem to have any sort of self-doubt about the life that she led. Even Malfoy who Harry had googled in his time at that safe house led his life with no obvious ties to the past. Malfoy had had his parents and even though one of them ended up being an absolute monster, Malfoy still lived on.

Unlike Harry, Malfoy and Hermione chose to try their best to move on to not let their past take hold of their present and future. If Harry didn't talk to Lupin now it wasn't just their mission in danger but the whole world.

“It’s Harry actually.”

If it was possible Lupin’s eyes went even wider.

 

***********************************************************

 

The man was a good dancer that much she could tell. With her hand on his shoulder, Hermione could feel the muscles moving underneath his suit. He maintained eye contact with her and his hand never strayed from her waist. She could rule that he came over to seduce her. 

 

“It is so entertaining to see the youth make fools of themselves in the pursuit of what is clearly above them.” 

 

She allowed a look of confusion that was quickly resolved when the man turned her around and she came face to face with McLaggen’s  stricken face. 

 

“That seems to be a very liberal assumption to make, considering that you don’t know me.”

 

“I know him and trust me you will only be disappointed, a woman of your calibre will surely find him lacking.” 

 

“A woman of my calibre?”

 

“Let's not play coy, Penelope.”

 

Hermione had to try her best to not move away, “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, I am not sure I caught your name.” 

The man smiled at her and Hermione had to fight the shiver down her spine, he felt dangerous and predatory, she felt the same way she felt when Sirius took her to that safari trip and they had seen a pride of lions. She felt fear and awe at seeing a prime predator. Looking into this man’s eyes she could tell that he was more dangerous than any lion.

 

“You can call be Herpo.”

 

Hermione was about to comment on the unusual name, when the music ended and the man stepped away from her. The amount of relief she felt was almost comical. 

 

“I hope we meet again, Penelope, I trust that I would be in need of your services in the future.”

 

And just how the man came silently he walked away, Hermione was disturbed by the way he blended into the crowd. A dance earlier his presence had commanded everyone in his vicinity; like the northern lights, cold and out of reach but you couldn't help but look anyway and now nobody spared him a glance. It was like he was purposefully trying not to draw attention to himself and that unnerved  Hermione. It was the same trick she used, the same one that Sirius had taught her. 

_ Sometimes, _ he had said,  _ a lion walks so quietly a gazelle doesn't know what hit it until its neck is in between the lion’s  jaws. _

Hermione had no doubt in her mind that whoever this man was, he was dangerous. As she thought of his name something itched at the back of her brain. A memory, a piece of information that she needed. She reached out, tried to grasp at its edges and pull it from her subconscious.

 

_ Herpo  _

 

_ Herpo _

 

_ Herpo _

 

Comprehension hit Hermione like a lightning strike, she would have to make sure of course but based on past performances she was almost certain she was right. Hermione’s mind didn’t make a habit of tricking her. She had to gather Harry and Malfoy and contact Sirius immediately because if she was right they were in terrible danger. If she was right, she had just danced with Grindelwald. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD
> 
> this chapter was such a pain to write, there was school and exams and then my parents had this event that I helped plan but imp finally free so expect more updates also thank you to all those who read this and bear with my horrible plot this story has been my baby for almost a year now and I'm finally writing it and its not perfect but I'm determined to finish and then maybe ill go over it again and fix all the horrible mistakes but until then thank you for reading it


	8. Draco talks, Harry talks and Hermione is amazing

“I’m sorry I don't think I quite understand.” Lupin’s voice was filled with disbelief but also a trace of hope, one that encouraged Harry to continue.

 

“My name is Harry James Potter and you knew my parents.” 

Lupin looked at him and a myriad of emotions crossed his face in an instant he looked even more tired than before, Harry was starting to worry about him. Lupin moved next to him to the sinks and washed his face and then looked at Harry again. He bristled under Lupin’s unnerving gaze. 

 

“You don't believe me?”

 

Lupin sighted, “You look too much like your father for me to doubt you.”

 

The answer seemed somewhat resigned to Harry, as if Lupin knew this day was coming, he was distracted from his thoughts when Lupin grasped his shoulders.

 

“I don’t know what brought you here Harry but you need to leave, this is not a safe place.”

 

Harry ignored the hint of frantic mania in Lupin’s eyes and pried his hands away, 

“I came for you.”

 

Harry could tell that panic was taking over Remus so he pushed him until he could lean against the sink.

 

“You have to relax, I know what I’m doing.”

Lupin shook his head, “ You don't understand. If they knew you were here, that you talked to me, you will never leave this place alive.”

 

Harry made sure that their eyes met when he talked, “I know  that my life is in danger but i came here anyway do you know why?”

 

Lupin stilled and looked at Harry, his eyes held this strange yearning and Harry felt sorry for him, here was this man that had lost everything and was held against his will in a foreign country to create a weapon of mass destruction for an aspiring dictator. Harry was the only tie to his old life and for the first time Harry thought that ,maybe, Lupin needed him more than he needed Lupin. 

 

Lupin stared at him and he knew that the words he said next would be very important, “ I’m here for you, we’re here to get you out of this place.”

 

The look of hope that crossed Lupin’s face was short lived, “Harry you can't just get me out of here, you don't get the scope of-” 

Harry had to interrupt him he knew that time was of essence if Lupin was gone for too long people would get suspicious, “I know you're working for Grindelwald.”

 

It was as if someone had froze Lupin in place, he even stopped breathing, “Harry..”

 

“I’m not here alone, I have… associates that can help you but we need you to do something for us.”

 

Lupin quickly stood up, “They want information don't they?”

 

Harry nodded and walked towards Lupin but he held his hands out to stop him, “No, no,  _ no _ , you don't understand Harry what I’m working one-”

 

“Then tell me, help me understand.”

 

Lupin started pacing and then turned to Harry, “I can’t let the information get out Harry. I can’t put it in other people’s hands.”

 

“Malfoy and Hermione aren’t like that, they’re trying to save the world.”

 

Lupin scoffed, “Who are they working for?” Before Harry could answer, Lupin continued, “CIA? MI6? Mossad?”

 

His silence was apparently enough of an answer. 

 

“Harry you can’t trust these people, they’ll save me from Grindelwald and then use me themselves. Just because they’re governed by an authoritative body does not mean that they should be able to use this thing.”

 

_ “What is this thing?” _

 

Lupin stilled and then shook his head, making his thin brown hair move, “I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.”

 

Harry felt anger replacing his patience, “Are you fucking with me?”

 

Lupin seemed to be frozen in shock with the sudden change in Harry’s behaviour, “Harry-”

 

“No, just no,” Harry was adamant on making Lupin listen, “I get that they’re making you do something bad but the people I’m with have been trying to set you free and really I would think that working with a government would be a lot safer and better in every way than working with a fucking  _ extremist mastermind _ , this is not the time for you to be experiencing a moral crisis, we’re trying to help you so will you please, for the love of all that is holy,  _ please cooperate _ .”

 

Harry had to draw in a breath and if it was any other situation he would have laughed at the lock of astonishment on Lupin’s face but currently he was aware that he had left his partners in a room filled with people that would kill them at the drop of a hat. 

 

Lupin chuckled and Harry glimpsed the man that he had saw in that wedding picture, “You look exactly like James, but by God do you sound like Lilly.”

 

Harry felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. He had never met anyone who had known his parents and he had forgotten that the main motive behind him coming in this mission in the first place was because Lupin was probably the closest thing he had to family other than Weasleys. 

 

Lupin must have seen the pain in him because he sighed and reached into his suit pocket, “They were the best people I knew, here take this,” he handed Harry a Hershey kiss and he took it with amusement as he saw Lupin take a handful of them from his pocket, “Your parents Harry. were extraordinary people and I was lucky to know them.”

 

“Tell me something about them.” His voice was far weaker than he would have liked. 

 

Lupin frowned and Harry could see his confusion.

 

“My aunt never liked talking about them, I didnt even know the real reason they died until I was eighteen and a lawyer showed up at the house.”

 

“Petunia was always a bitch.”

 

Harry choked on his chocolate and they both laughed, and for a minute they relaxed forgetting about the danger that they were in and the ghosts that haunted them both. 

 

“What happened to you? I could have stayed with you. I didn’t have to live with them.”

 

Lupin’s eyes met his and they were filled with sorrow, “I’m not really sure myself, I woke up days after the accident and they apparently saved me and I have been at their mercy ever since.”

 

“Who are  _ they _ ?”

 

He shrugged, “It changes before Crouch it was this bloke in Switzerland called Mulciber and before him it was Karkaroff in Bulgaria, his supporters are everywhere.”

 

Harry nodded and mentally reviewed all the information he had just gained. “We need to get out of here before anyone gets suspicious, do they allow you visitors?”

 

Lupin sighted and it was filled with exhaustion, “Depends, they usually have to approve them but they gave me a fake identity and appointed me as head of R&D so maybe if you try to set an appointment.”

 

“Hermione and Malfoy are working on our next meeting and from there they will work on a strategy to get you to safety.”

 

Lupin walked to the trashcan and threw the silver wrappers of the chocolate, “ Are you sure you can trust these people?”

 

Harry looked Lupin in the eyes and tried to not sound too defensive, “They’re the best. I trust them with my life, I know that no matter what they have my back.”

 

He ignored the look on doubt on Lupin’s face.

 

******************************************************

 

The air outside was crisp and refreshing and Draco could feel himself relax slightly as he exited the ball but not too much because judging by the tense raise of Blaise's shoulders, this was going to be eventful. 

 

They had made themselves to the edges of a small garden passing several couples who were indulging in each other out in the open. Blaise only stopped walking when they were hidden by a wall of creepers and their conservation could be muffled with the noise from the fake stream only a few feet away. The grass under their feet was freshly cut and the trees around them bent with the slight wind, the moon illuminated Blaise's sharp features and Draco prepared himself for the explosion, the avalanche; the moment that Blaise released years of anger and betrayal. 

The explosion never came. 

 

Draco should have known better than to believe that Blaise would so easily lose control. 

 

“Why?” Blaise's voice was like the empty corridors of his childhood home; calm and chilly.

 

The words lodged themselves in his throat, he knew that no apology was enough, “You have to believe me Blaise, I didn’t know who she was, we never met and she was never around and those assets they didn’t tell me-”

 

“Cut the crap, Draco.”

Blaise's eyes were filled with anger but also with disappointment, so fresh and strong that Draco felt it pierce his insides. 

 

“Why?”

 

He prided himself in learning from his mistakes, he knew what Blaise meant.

 

_ Why did you disappear? _

 

_ Why did you never call? _

 

_ Why did you try to take everything from me? _

 

_ Why did you shut me out? _

 

The air around them was charged and Draco sighted and dropped his shoulders. 

 

“I couldn’t stand the looks, the pity and the disgust and the way people that used to grovel at my feet ostracized me,” Blaise looked like he was going to speak but Draco continued, it felt like he was finally releasing everything that he had kept from everyone, including himself,

“And I know you didn’t care but it was so fucking hard, knowing the person my father was, knowing the things he’s done, and my mother,” he was pulling at his hair now, “My  _ mother  _ Blaise she was devastated, she tried to be strong but I was a coward, I had to save her and when the chance presented itself I took it.”

 

Blaize was clearly shocked, Draco wasn’t the type to just things out in the open, “ Draco-”

 

“He came to me and told me that they had evidence that could incriminate her, prove that she was in the know and did nothing, I was such a horrible son but this I had to do this, I had to save her. I’m sorry Blaise but that was all you were, a job that I didn’t know about, I should’ve asked but I honestly didn’t care as long as it kept my mother out of jail and Riddle off my ass.”

 

Blaize pursed his lips, “You could’ve come to me for help.”

 

He shook his head frantically, “No I couldn’t, Riddle is not the type of man you refuse he needed my skill set, my upbringing, a bit of danger seemed worth it.”

 

“ A bit?” Blaise looked at him like he was an idiot, “Draco you know who these people inside are, they’ll do worse than kill you.”

 

Draco scoffed, “So will Riddle at least with him I’m doing some semblance of good.”

 

Blaise walked towards him with long strides, “Is that what this is about? Some desire to repent?”

 

Drace remained silent and that seemed to be all the answer that Blaise needed, he sighted and fished a card out of his pocket. 

 

“This is my personal number, if you need anything-” the rest was left unsaid but Draco felt overwhelming relief and gratitude, it must have shown on his face because Blaise smirked.

 

“Careful, those two are starting to rub off on you.”

 

Draco was about to reply when Granger rushed in through the trees she must have put a tracker on him again. Her hair was a bit mussed and she had hiked her dress up to navigate through the gardens but what drew Draco’s attention was the frantic look in her eyes, she looked at him, breathless and he realized she must have broken into a run the second she left the ballroom, “We need to leave  _ now _ .” 

 

Draco turned to Blaize who nodded at him, “Go. Do what you must.”

 

And Draco was just about to when Blaise called out, “ Draco, don't be a stranger.”

 

He had to fight the smile threatening to take over his face as he hurried after Granger, his strides quickly catching on to her shorter ones. Draco realized that the last time he had seen her in this level of focus and efficiency was when she was chasing him and Potter through the streets of London. 

 

“Granger,” she continued to ignore him as she hurried on, “Granger, would you slow down and explain why we’re running.”

 

She turned to him and in the light coming from the ballroom that they neared he could see the depth of her fear.

 

“We’ve been compromised.”

 

**************************************

 

Harry was finalizing the plan to Remus when Malfoy suddenly burst into the bathroom. He took one look at them and sighted and then pinched the bridge of his nose. 

 

“What part of keep it brief did you not understand Potter?”

 

Before Harry could reply Remus stepped in, “He was telling me about your plan.”

 

Malfoy turned fully to Remus, “Dr, Lupin,” he gave him a nod in greeting, “I’m sorry we have to cut this short but don’t worry we’ll make first contact, you just have to pretend that you’re interested in meeting Potter for less nefarious reasons than escaping the clutches of an evil criminal.”

 

Remus seemed shocked by Malfoy’s candour and Harry remembered when he first met Malfoy. He was usually very subtle and never said anything outright but when it came to people he had to protect he was surprisingly honest and straight to the point. At first, Harry thought that it was just a way for Malfoy to minimize the amount of time he interacted with people but now that he knew Malfoy better he realized that he did it for their benefit, so that they can realize what they were getting themselves into. 

 

Remus nodded and Malfoy turned to Harry, “We need to leave now, we’ll explain on the way.”

 

Harry spared on last glance at Remus, smiled and then followed Malfoy out of the restroom only to stop before he could crash into Malfoy’s back. He side stepped to see what made Malfoy stop in his tracks and almost cursed. 

 

In front of them stood Hermione with McLaggen. 

 

******************************************

 

Draco wondered how such a good day could turn sour so quickly. 

 

He was happy that he had finally made things right with Blaise but then Granger had to inform him that somehow fucking Grindelwald probably knew about them and then he had to pull Potter out of whatever messed up family reunion he had been experiencing with Lupin. He was looking forward to just going to the hotel room and discussing there next step but McLaggen had to ruin it. 

He took a deep breath trying to not make his way to the nearest bottle of champagne and made his way to where McLaggen was obviously trying to get Granger to go home with him. 

 

McLaggen brightened when he saw Potter behind him, “There you are, I was just telling Penelope about this great bottle of wine that I have at home, you’ll join us right?”

 

The implication was clear and for some reason the idea of Granger and Potter sleeping with this imbecile was revolting to Draco. Potter tensed next to him and hesitated for a second, but it was enough for Granger to pick up on it. 

 

“Actually, I’m afraid James is not feeling so well, plus he takes longer than me to convince when it comes to these things, but I can’t resist a good bottle of wine,” she touched McLaggen shoulder and looked the utter idiot in the eye, “That is if you’ll have me of course.”

McLaggen seemed disappointed at first but one look at Granger and her clear seduction seemed enough to convince him. 

 

“Of course, I’ll be honoured,” McLaggen assured and then turned to Draco and Potter, “I hope you feel better soon James and that you’ll consider joining us next time, I assure you I’m the most gracious of hosts.”

 

Granger hugged Potter goodbye and did the same to him as she squeezed him slightly she whispered in his ear, “Take care of him.”

 

Draco felt something drop in his pant pocket and then Granger released him and walked away with McLaggen, who looked like he had just won the lottery. The scene felt wrong; Granger walking away and leaving him and Potter behind. The way she clasped McLaggen hand was wrong and the way he looked at her, like she was a prize and not the amazing person that Draco knew she was, was wrong. 

 

It all just felt so  _ bloody wrong _ .

 

He could feel anger rising in him and he quickly walked out of the ballroom and towards the exit, as he waited for the valet to bring the car Potter caught up to him. He was surprised that Potter was more tense than usual and that he had fisted his hands by his sides. 

 

Together they made their way to their hotel, the car felt too big.

 

*******************************************

 

Harry had watched as Malfoy slowly and silently made his way to his and Hermione’s room. He didn’t know what was wrong with him but he could tell that Malfoy was angry and that he was in no mood to talk. 

 

But Harry wanted answers and he was going to get them. 

 

He waited until Malfoy opened the door of the bathroom, where Harry had heard him talking on the phone, probably to Riddle, and poured himself a glass of scotch before he spoke.

 

“Why did we have to leave?”

 

Malfoy poured himself another glass and downed it before answering Harry, “After you left a man asked Granger to dance, he seemed respected enough. I left them and after the dance Granger came to me, the man had introduced himself as Herpo.”

 

Before he could comment on the strange name Draco continued, “Apparently, it’s the name of some obscure greek philosopher obsessed with power structures and the advancement of humankind. Granger said she studied Grindelwald thoroughly and that he had quoted him a bunch of times and had even been obsessed with him in his youth.”

 

“But that doesn’t mean that that man was Grindelwald.”

 

Malfoy shook his head, “You haven’t seen him, he walks into a room and he exudes this power, presence like that only comes if you know you’re the strongest person in that room. Trust me I know.”

 

Harry sat silently until Malfoy finished another glass, “What does this mean?”

 

“It means his onto us, he wouldn’t introduce himself with a name that we could clearly tie back to him unless he wants us to know who we’re dealing with.”

 

“Then why did Hermione leave with McLaggen if our identity has been compromised?”

 

Malfoy suddenly got up and walked towards his chair, he placed both his hands on the armrests, caging Harry in and leaned down and Harry was surprised with the amount of anger and worry in those grey eyes, “She did it Potter, because McLaggen doesn’t know who you guys really are and so she's trying to pull as much intel as possible before we ultimately have to save Lupin because our fucking handlers don't care that we may die and the fact that Grindelwald is on to us doesn't really concern them.” 

 

Harry wanted to ask what the fuck Malfoy thought he was playing at, but Malfoy seemed to be on a rant, “And to make it all worse she’s all alone because you can’t get over this sexual identity crisis. I get it, its hard but I thought me almost kissing you got you over that hang up but apparently you can't get over the fact that you’re attracted to men to help your partner and now she could die and I’m not even allowed to help.” 

 

Harry fell silent at Malfoy’s words. A part of him knew that Hermione had spared him when she had seen his hesitation and he would forever remain grateful but the guilt was eating him alive. 

 

“What do you mean you’re not allowed to help.”

Malfoy scoffed, “My handler thinks that it's important to make sure that you’re safe so that we can contact Lupin they don’t care that she’s in danger.”

 

“Her own handler?”

 

“He’s trying to get some back-up to surround McLaggen home but it’s hard to do without drawing any attention at us.”

 

The silence that came after was full of frustration and Malfoy poured himself another  drink. 

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

 

Harry could feel anger rising in him like a wave he couldn’t stop, filling his lungs and dragging him under. 

 

“Not all of us have shit figured out, Malfoy,” his voice was certainly more biting than he had intended. 

 

Malfoy froze and turned towards him, “Figured out? I don’t have shit figured out I can just accept that I’m attracted to blokes and so are you, but you aren't willing to do what needs to be done.”

 

Before Harry knew it he had lunged at Malfoy, he knew that it was futile, Malfoy was trained and faster than Harry but he was also drunk, which is why he managed to take him by surprise. Malfoy didn’t take long to move though, and he grasped Harry by the neck and dragged him up. Their eyes met and they froze, they breathed hard but somehow in sync. Harry knew that this was different than the last time they were this close. They stayed like that; eyes meeting, breah mingling in the middle, a hair breadth away, Harry grasping Malfoy’s shirt and Malfoy’s hands on his neck, like a star about to collapse on itself; a supernova in the making. 

 

A horn blared outside and the spell was broken.

 

Malfoy took a deep breath and released him, he made his way back to the scotch and Harry walked into the bedroom so that he can change. They both remained silent, waiting for the third member of their team.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write but it ended up being the longest chapter so far I think and the story is finally progressing we can finally get into the good stuff


	9. Harry prefers tea, Draco is offended and Hermione is tired

Granger did not return that night, a fact that Draco was very aware of. Potter had fallen asleep on the armchair across from him somewhere around the 3 am mark, his conversation with Lupin and general exhaustion having caught up to him, while Draco had not gotten any sleep. He would have liked to have blamed his worry on a growing camaraderie and the nature of their profession; it required a huge amount of trust and if Granger was in danger, then they were all danger. What had almost happened with Potter could not happen again. He would not put himself in a position where disastrous decisions could occur. A part of him was afraid that if he had actually kissed Potter he wouldn't have been able to stop. Potter, and Granger for that matter, were very addictive. Draco craved their presence in the most basic of terms.

 

He had spent his whole childhood with his parents as role models and then surrounded himself with people like Blaise, who wasn’t exactly known for his sentimentality, and then he started working with Riddle and was somewhat close acquaintances with Nott. Potter and Granger held themselves to a morally higher ground that Draco could never reach. They were honest and true and cared so much that he found himself truly baffled; it honestly confused him how they could feel so much _ all the time.  _

 

The door of the hotel room opened and that was when Draco knew that he had to stop drinking, he knew it was Granger when he saw the mess of hair, but it could have also been a crazy assassin or worse, Riddle. She was wearing sweatpants that were a few sizes too big and a white shirt that clearly did not belong to her. She looked at him and he wondered how he seemed to her; in his suit from last night, tie undone, and smelling clearly of alcohol. He wanted to talk to her, to somehow comfort or to tell her that he was worried, that he hadn't forgotten about her and that she was his partner, so he would never abandon her. But he couldn’t, his voice could not work and he was left looking at her as she slowly made her way to the living room area. 

 

When Granger spotted Potter sleeping in the armchair she sighed and grabbed the afghan from the couch to cover Potter, something that Draco felt not at all sorry for not doing. He followed her as she made her way to the bathroom. Granger didn't even bother to close the door so he took it as an invitation to enter. She was at the sink washing her face and splashing her shirt in the process. He wanted to stop her but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to; he was still kind of drunk. He watched her as she brushed her teeth and tied her hair into a bun, and when she took off the clothes she came in and threw them in the bin. 

 

“I want to take a shower.” 

 

“Granger...”

 

Something about his voice made her look up and she smiled at him, “I’m fine Malfoy. It wasn’t completely horrible  and he made breakfast and sent my dress to the cleaner’s-”

 

“Granger,” he was angry. How dare she do this to him. “I’m not Potter, and I know that you’re some kind of genius but please respect my intelligence a bit.”

 

She was clearly shocked and Malfoy sighed and leaned against the door, “I’m just saying that I understand, you did what you had to do and if you need to talk about it-”

 

“We do need to talk,” Granger then turned around so she was facing him instead of looking at him through the mirror, “About Grindelwald and how we’re going to rescue Lupin. Did you contact Sirius?”

 

He would not push this for now, mainly because he knew that she would not appreciate his meddling. “I did, he said he’ll contact you soon. He was also convinced that I had killed you.”

 

“I have never given my personal phone to anybody, he’s the only person that knows that number, so you calling from it must have been a shock.”

 

“His threats were a shock.” 

 

She smiled at him and walked towards him and he tried really hard not to look at the sway of her hips in her underwear. 

 

“Malfoy I need to shower.”

 

He nodded and closed the door after him. He stood there as she locked it from the other side, again wanting to comfort her somehow, but he would let her deal with it alone, everyone had a routine when it came to something like this and he wouldn’t interrupt hers. 

 

Making his way back to the living room he heard a small shuffle and he almost panicked, but then Potter appeared. He was moving his neck side to side and rubbing at the base of it, the chair must have been very uncomfortable. He jumped a little when he saw Draco in the corridor. 

 

“I thought you left.”

 

“Granger is back.” 

 

In a second, Potter’s whole demeanour changed, his hands fell on his side and he straightened from his natural slouchiness. He made his way to the bedroom but Draco stepped in his way. 

 

“She’s taking a shower.”

 

“I just want to talk to her.”

 

Draco sighed, “Potter, I know you mean well but you really have to let her deal with this alone.”

 

“We’re a team, she doesn’t need to deal with this alone.”

 

Draco was very annoyed and the words came before he could stop them, “On the contrary Potter, Granger and I are a team. You’re bait.”

 

The look of hurt on Potter’s face disappeared quite quickly and was replaced with anger. Draco was impressed, clearly Granger was making progress in her endeavour to not make his face a fucking gold mine of information.

 

Before Potter could open his mouth to say something, Granger stepped out of the bathroom, hair wet and coiled and wearing only a towel. Potter seemed to have been rendered speechless, whether that was from the towel or the general fact that Granger was present, Draco wasn’t sure. He would have laughed if it wasn’t for the fact that Granger had her hands on her hips and was glaring at both of  them. 

 

“I’m going to go continue my shower and change, and you two need to resolve this shit because we have more important things to deal with.”

 

The shock of Granger cursing was quickly replaced with awkwardness as she stormed to the bedroom and closed the door, leaving him alone with Potter. He closed his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to summon every ounce of patience because Granger was right and he had to deal with this shit. He nodded back to the living room and Potter followed. 

 

The room still had the remnants of his bout of drinking and the afghan that Granger used to cover Potter was still thrown haphazardly on the back of the chair. Potter immediately went to fold it and return it to the rightful place on the couch. He gave Draco the stink eye and then proceeded to clean up the cups and the tumblr of alcohol.

 

The air was heavy with tension and Draco sighed, “Look, you’re a civilian, Granger doesn’t need you to somehow make her forget what happened, we all have our methods of dealing with shit and you can’t force your way into that.”

 

Potter tensed and continued to tidy the area, “You don’t know what she needs.” 

 

Draco stood up and met Potter face to face. “I may not know her that well, but neither do you,” before Potter could protest Draco continued, “You know this Potter, since the beginning it has all been about you for Granger, she’s always trying to make you feel better and just this once, give her the opportunity to not be worried about what you want or think.”

 

Potter looked as if he wanted to argue some more but Draco was not going to lose this, “I know what I’m talking about, she’s going to see it as failure if you even try to help her.” Something in his words must have resonated with Potter because he decided to shut up. He looked very guilty and Draco remembered how much shit he put Potter through last night. He felt guilty but also proud that Potter never let him walk all over him. 

 

Granger came out of the bedroom in a pair of pyjamas and gave them both a glare as she settled herself on the couch. Draco allowed himself to smile when she sat on the afghan that Potter just folded. Granger crossed her legs and raised her brow at them, waiting for them to sit down so they could discuss their next course of action. 

 

************************

 

Hermione seemed normal to Harry, which is why he knew that he had sort of fucked up. Malfoy’s words forced him to look deeper into what was there, and the signs showed that Hermione was off. Even if they were small signs. She kept touching her collar bones and scratching them, she seemed very oddly focused and she didn’t meet his eyes as often. 

 

A part of Harry wanted to just find a way to help, to not be such a burden on both of them. While Malfoy did apologize, in his own subtle way, his words still haunted him. The truth was he did kind of feel as if he wasn’t part of the team, he felt like he existed in a separate plane from Hermione and Malfoy; he belonged to the normal world and they belonged to this sort of Olympus high up and he, Harry, will never be able to reach them. This mission would end, with them hopefully alive, and they would go their separate paths and Harry tried to not let the fact that their paths may never cross again bother him.

 

So far they had concluded that McLaggen didn’t know who they were, they would use that fact to book Harry an appointment with the head of R&D and then Malfoy and Hermione had to contact their handlers to find the best way to get Lupin out of Italy as quickly as possible. While Harry wanted to know what was going to happen to him, Hermione and Malfoy were talking technicalities and contact times and that felt like a part of the mission that he didn’t have anything to do with him. He looked at them both, heads bent while they discussed plans. Hermione was arguing passionately for something or other, her eyes fully on Malfoy. The contrast between them was evident, from their hair all the way to their personality. Malfoy and Hermione were two sides of the same coin, different but ultimately one. 

 

Harry was sick of being on the outside looking in. 

 

“You guys should rest.”

 

Two heads snapped up to look at him with comical expressions. Malfoy looked like he couldn’t fathom how he had enough brain cells to even form sentences and Hermione looked like he had just suggested she stopped breathing. 

 

“Potter, the whole world is on the brink, we can’t rest?”

Harry shrugged as he made his way to the door so that he could put on his coat, “The way I see it. If they had wanted us dead they would have killed us by now and if they’re waiting to kill us when we approach Lupin then we should atleast have some fun.”

 

“Harry I don’t really think that’s such a great idea-”

 

“You can’t tell me you aren’t hungry and the weather is amazing outside we could just walk and get something to eat.”

 

Malfoy gave him a withering look, “Granger i thought you trained your dog,” he then rose up to the table in the corner, “Let me introduce you to the concept of room service Potter, something Granger should have told you about.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes at him and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “Very funny, Malfoy but seriously I can’t stay in this hotel room any longer. I need to go out.”

 

Malfoy didn’t look convinced so Harry turned to Hermione, he was sure she would feel some sympathy for his poor soul but he was met with a stern frown and a shake of the head.

 

“I’m sorry Harry but it's too dangerous.’

 

“I agree with Granger.”

 

Harry wanted nothing more than to convince them to go outside, the walls of the hotel room were starting to close in and Harry tried to avoid any situation where he felt trapped.

 

He met Hermione’s eyes, “Please,” he pleaded, “Hermione, please I have to get out.”

 

She looked like she was going to relent but then her eyes steeled over, “This for your own protection, Harry.”

 

He furrowed his brows and snapped before his mind registered the anger rushing in his blood, “You don’t care about my safety if you did, you wouldn't be sending me to the lion’s den.”

 

Hermione looked devastated and he knew he fucked up when it took her longer than usual to control her face expression. He felt Malfoy suddenly come up behind him and squeeze his shoulder. 

 

“Maybe he’s right, God knows we need a break Granger.” 

 

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Malfoy continued before she could any words in, “There’s a small bakery by the hotel, really good tartes, not as good as France of course, but it will satisfy your plebeian palates,” Malfoy ignored her apparent disapproval and continued, “I’ve been waiting to refine Potter some more, don’t let the suit fool you, he still likes pre-ground coffee.”

 

Harry was about to tell Malfoy that he drank it because he wasn’t an absolute elitist snob when Malfoy squeezed his shoulder more, and Harry finally got it.

Malfoy was running damage control. Damage that Harry had caused.

 

Hermione’s shoulders slumped and she fixed Malfoy with a very stern look, “You’re paying.”

 

******************

 

The bakery smelled divine and Hermione only realized her hunger once she saw all the baked goods on display. It was small and the man operating beamed when he saw Malfoy in his sharp grey suit- that did not bring out his eyes at all- and frowned when he saw her dirty sneakers and Harry’s wrinkled shirt. Malfoy gave her a look over his shoulder that seemed to scream ‘ I told you so’. The only thing that was stopping her from strangling with his tie was the fact that he was doing this for them. Harry’s words had hurt because they were true. 

 

How could she claim that his safety was her first priority, when she was sending him to the chopping block blindfolded? She was asking him to save the world and trust her and Malfoy to save him, she was keeping secrets from him. The worst part was that she wasn’t even feeling guilty, all those things were necessary. Maybe that was the largest difference between her and them. 

 

Whenever Harry looked at her, she saw that he had put her on this pedestal and was just now realizing that she wasn’t perfect. Malfoy knew what this job took and so he understood, to an extent. He also thought that she was better than him. He was wary of Harry because of his innocence, bravery and kindness and he was wary of her because of he knew that she wasn’t who she pretended to be. Hermione knew that Malfoy must have picked up on it, her ability to detach herself, to disregard empathy for her end goal and be completely focused on task. The reason she was so scared of Herpo was because she recognized herself in his depth. She still had a long way to go, ofcourse, but she knew that it was only a matter of time. 

 

The path she was on would end in blood, she could feel it in her bones. It was something that she had never talked to anyone about, not even Sirius. She doubted that she knew anyone would understand. Luna and Sirius were the closest people to her, a list she was not surprised to find also included Harry and Malfoy. All those people had a future, people they cared about, places they called home, _ roots. _

 

Hermione never had that and she wasn’t  sure she wanted it. Her relationship with Sirius was based on their mutual needs, she needed a father figure, a semblance of family and he needed to relieve himself of the guilt of leaving the UK and Harry. Hermione knew that it was more than that, that somewhere along the way they had gotten very close and that he didn’t see her as just a replacement of Harry, but that was how it started. And she was okay with that. That didn’t mean that she didn’t long for something more. 

 

She yearned to feel the devotion that Draco had for his mother. She ached for the fierce loyalty and passion that she knew Sirius felt for Remus, even though he had tried to hide it. She burned for innocent love, for sweet kisses and playful banter and the absence of violence and cruelty and she longed.

 

Hermione longed for a day, where she would wake up and be satisfied. Be so filled with content that she wouldn’t want to get out of bed, for a day where she would bask in the warmth of the sun and not the sunset. 

 

Hermione knew that day would never come. Because if she was anything she was filled with greed. Satisfaction was as improbable as Malfoy rolling up the sleeves of his pressed shirts.

 

She was brought out of her thoughts when they sat and each of them ordered ( an espresso for Malfoy, tiramisu for herself and a cupcake with iced coffee for Harry). She had to stop herself when Harry tried to order a cup of tea, only for the man to frown and turn to Malfoy, who pinched the bridge of his nose ordered the ice coffee for Harry. 

 

“God, Potter, could you be more  _ British _ ?” the words were spoken in the same tone that Sirius used for fleas. 

 

“I am British.”

 

“ Usually I try to not hold that against you, but please refrain from embarrassing me.”

 

“Listen you contintental piece of shite-”

 

“At Least the continent has a taste for the good things in life and not the swill you call tea-”

 

Malfoy then continued on a rant on the absolute backwardness of the isles and their cultural inferiority. Hermione looked at the two men sitting across opposite her. Malfoy with his blond hair and suits and alcohol and Harry with his messy hair and glasses and tea. She suddenly become hyper aware of how close they were. Malfoy’s ankle was touching hers under the table and Harry was leaning against her so their shoulders were touching. She felt the warmth from both of them and she could smell Harry’s shampoo and Malfoy’s cologne, she wanted to reach out and touch them. To drown them in her just like she was being engulfed by them. Hermione was going to do it but then she remembered the hickeys that were hidden by makeup on her collar bones. She retreated. 

 

“Even Granger, who is from the fucking  _ States  _ doesn’t have the same level of vulgarity, back me up here Granger.”

 

Hermione’s eyes went from Malfoy’s face to Harry’s as they both looked at her. The lights of the bakery dimmed and they didn’t seem so bright anymore, they didn’t seem so untouchable and out of reach. They looked strong, so strong maybe she won’t ruin them. 

 

Hermione smiled. 

 

********************************

 

Harry went to sleep early and left her and Malfoy to iron out the last of the details. They still had to rescue Lupin and save the world and remain alive. 

 

“Don’t hold it against him, he means well.”

 

She was shocked at the words coming from Malfoy, he wasn’t usually one to voicing things out loud.

 

He sipped from his cup, “He’s trying to help but he doesn’t know that if you were really out of your depth you would tell us.”

 

She nodded because he deserved that much, an assurance that they were a team. All of them. 

 

The light from the lampshade cast a shadow on the severe lines of Malfoy’s face and made his hair glow. His eyes were granite, steady and strong. They were sitting at the dining table, their chairs centimeters apart, every time he moved, every deep breath he took she could feel, it felt right.  She leaned across her chair and her hand rested on the back of his, he didn't move as her face neared his. She closed her eyes and he closed his and they kissed. The world burned to ashes. 

 

It started hesitant, tentative but it grew, her hands moved to his waist, fingers grasping a belt loop and his went to the back of her head, pushing her closer to him and her other hand made its way to the back of his neck. It was hungry and fast and nothing and everything like what she imagined. Then it stopped and Malfoy’s head rested against her collar bone and he nipped at her skin and Hermione remembered the love bites left by a different mouth, ones that he couldn’t see but she could feel the weight of them sinking into her skin and becoming part of her. The sound of his voice drew her out of the darkness. 

 

_ “Hermione.” _

 

His voice was raspy and restrained and he lifted his head and looked at her. Something in her eyes must have gave it away because his hands cupped her cheeks, like she was something to protect and not to be protected from. He dropped her eyelids with the pads of his thumbs and she could feel the calluses on his hands. She took a deep breath but it never left her as he kissed her eyelids, and her nose and her forehead. He kissed the top of her cheeks and her jaw and after each kiss he paused and he was so close she could feel his warm breath against her skin, he smelled of coffee and alcohol. He finally kissed her lips again and it was soft and sweet but the way she grasped his waist was tight and desperate and his hands left her face to rub her arm and then her hand. 

 

She opened her eyes and breathed out. 

 

_ “Draco.” _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY KISS!!! finally something interesting happened in this story, also thank you all for being patient with me, this whole story is a huge learning experience and I can feel myself getting better with each chapter. Also @AmaliaIR deserves a huge thank you because this chapter would have been infinitely worse without her input and her story Summer is the absolute best and you have to read it because she does this triad justice.


	10. Draco takes a stand, Harry is confused and Hermione is always efficent

“You’re killing me here, Potter.”

 

Harry tried not to snicker at Malfoy’s enraged face, he looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. 

 

“Draco stop glaring and just tie it for him.” 

 

Harry had gone to bed early last night, after much insistence from Hermione, he didn’t know what they had worked on but when he woke up in the morning they had had a plan. And Hermione called Malfoy Draco. It was unsettling and unnerving and every other word that meant that it was not normal. Except it was. The name came out of her mouth like it was not meant to be spoken by anyone else but her, and it wasn’t just Hermione, Malfoy hadn’t called her Granger and when she had come out of the bathroom with her head upside down as she applied copious amounts of product in it, he had gotten a weird look on his face. Like he wanted to see more of her. The look was unexpected on Malfoy’s face because Harry had only seen it on his own face before. Something had changed and Harry wasn’t sure if he liked it. 

 

They hadn’t told him their plans yet but they seemed confident enough in themselves. Harry of course had the easiest part. He just had to talk to Lupin and find someway to warn him that he was going to be rescued. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do that but he’ll deal with that later. 

 

Malfoy came up to him and started to unravel the disastrous knot that his grey tie had been reduced to. Harry looked down at his long and pale fingers as they carefully worked out the knot he had created. 

 

“I swear no appreciation for hard work at all, this tie was..”

 

Harry tuned him out as he kept muttering about the origin of the tie, because he knew that if he had found out how much it had cost to buy the piece of cloth he would die inside a little. 

 

“You have to relax.”

 

Hermione’s voice rang out, except it wasn’t across the room where she had been a few seconds ago but right next to his ear. Malfoy must have been just as surprised with the proximity of her voice because he looked up with wide eyes and furrowed his eyebrows at her. Harry watched as Malfoy’s face relaxed and returned to his job as if nothing had happened. Hermione’s hands were on his shoulder and her breath was next to his neck. Malfoy made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and stepped closer to him and bent down to peer at the tie more closely. 

 

Harry could feel them both and he didn’t know what to do. He closed his eyes for a moment and basked in their combined warmth. He wanted to stay this way forever, in between them both, feeling Hermione’s hands slide from his shoulders to wrap around his middle and smelling the cologne that Malfoy used. Malfoy finished with the tie and looked up, but not at him but at Hermione behind him. He couldn’t read his face and he wanted to turn and see Hermione’s face but he knew that he couldn’t, because on movement, one wrong action will shatter this moment and this warmth, this feeling, this strange and unfamiliar feeling of being wanted will disappear and they will return to missions and the world. Harry didn’t think he would be able to bear it. Not after this. He didn’t want to ever return to his normal life, that would mean leaving this behind and he didn’t even know what this was. He just knew that he wanted it. More than he wanted anything before. Malfoy’s eyes moved from Hermione to him and they skimmed his face and paused, for the briefest moment at his lips. Harry wanted to stretch up and kiss him, he ached for it deep in his bones. A phone rang and Hermione’s weight disappeared off his back as she left them. Harry registered all of that but not really, he could hear Hermione’s voice in the other room but he couldn’t focus on what she was saying because it was all white noise as he looked in Malfoy’s eyes. The name sounded wrong now and the words came out of Harry before he could even think about them. 

 

“So can I call you Draco too?”

 

Malfoy seemed surprised at the question and the edge of his mouth lifted and Harry kind of wanted to punch him just to get the smug look off his face but Malfoy surprised him. Malfoy bend down and kissed him and Harry kissed him back. 

 

He had never kissed a boy before and he expected it to feel completely different somehow, but a kiss was a kiss and Malfoy was a much better kisser than Cho. It was not wet, it was soft but firm like Malfoy wanted to be there, like every cell in his body wanted to be kissing him and Harry thought that maybe every cell in his body wanted him to kiss Malfoy too. Then it turned even softer as Malfoy pulled away and Harry wanted to grab him and kiss him again and again. 

 

He wanted-

 

He wanted-

He wanted- 

 

All his thoughts come to halt as Malfoy opened his mouth, “You can now,” and then Malfoy- Draco- smiled, a true genuine smile and the harsh lines of his face were softened by it, “Harry.”

 

The kiss stayed with him as he was pushed into a car by Hermione, as he waited for Remus, as they talked, surrounded by people who all seemed to pay too much interest to their conversation. He was glad for all the coaching that he had received from Draco and Hermione. They talked about new technologies and development, about materials and things that he wouldn’t have any idea about if it wasn’t for all the facts drilled into his head. He took note of the security men around Remus, they looked like normal employees and they didn’t make it obvious, but they paced outside his office and seemd tense. He left  after an hour and a half and Remus walked him out of his office, he hugged him and that was the only part of their whole conversation that seems natural and real. Before they separated he whispered in his ear, “They’re coming.”

 

It rushed out of him but he hoped that Remus caught it. He left and got in the car. It was only after ten minutes that he realized that the car was not headed to the hotel. 

 

****************************

  
  
  


Hermione remembered when Sirius had to move to California for a while. At first she was afraid that was the end of it, their little father-daughter pretend game was going to come to an end and he would go be an awesome agent and she would bounce from foster home to foster home until she was eighteen. But Sirius didn’t abandon her, he took her with him and the relief, the assurance of it almost made her cry. That rush of emotions was like nothing she had ever felt before. The moment that Draco stopped kissing her, felt like that moment but so much more. She felt a rush, but of want, of need to freeze everything around her and remain in Draco’s arms, she felt a rush of worry. They had crossed a line that she didn’t think she would ever cross. She had never mixed her work and her pleasure, she couldn’t in her profession. They both knew this but they had kissed anyway and nothing in her will ever regret what had happened. Nothing will ever make her forget the way that Draco kissed her. The way his breath hitched, the way he looked at her and the way the light from the lamp had made his hair glow. 

When she saw Draco and Harry together, something had settled in her, it felt like waking up from a nightmare and realizing that she was safe in bed, like she was centered and grounded and she knew that she would do anything to protect that sight. The happiness in her could not be contained and so she had hugged Harry from behind. Because she wanted to and the simplicity of it took her breath away. The call from Sirius was an unwelcome interruption but a necessary one, it seemed. She had walked out from the bedroom to Harry and Draco kissing and it had been a shift, in the earth, in her world, in her very being. That was the scene that she had never thought she needed to see. She had suspected that she had feelings for both of them, that she needed them both, she just didn’t know to what extent. She did need them both and they too needed each other. The realization that they all belonged together was like a new dawn, inevitable and mundane, but marvelous nonetheless. She smiled at them and left them to it. She would let them figure it out for themselves. 

 

She didn’t talk about it with Draco as they packed their bags, emptied the hotel room and checked out. As they got in the black nondescript van that Nott had rented them.

 

“We should have told them.”

 

“It’s for his own good, he won’t understand,but it’s not safe for him anymore.”

 

Draco’s jaw tensed and his hands clutched the steering wheel tighter. They followed the car that Lupin was in, Harry was probably already in the hanger, confused but safe. As they neared the car she grabbed the bag with the masks and pulled one out. 

 

“Really?”

 

“I thought it would be ironic.”

 

“It’s not his fault his parents were pretentious idiots,” she huffed. 

 

“This is coming from the girl named Hermione.”

 

“It could be worse,” she said as she put on the mask of the dog. 

 

“Yeah you could be named Remus Lupin.”

 

“His father studied wolves.”

 

“For one minute, can you try to not upstage me with your superior background checks.”

 

“You ignore the information given to you,” she readied her gun. 

 

“It’s not necessary half the time.”

 

The car swerved in front of the BMW that Lupin was in and Hermione opened her window as Draco put on his mask, a wolf. Two huge men came out, guns raised and Hermione smiled as she heard the sound of Draco’s own weapon. 

 

They got out and she immediately shot one of the men in the chest. A good agent avoided confrontation and unnecessary murder, it brought up too much questions and involved too many outside variables, but they needed Grindelwald to believe that it wasn’t an agent who did this, an enemy or a rival organization should be his first guess and so Hermione had to kill. Criminals didn’t care if the authorities got involved over the death of low level muscle. She made her way to the passenger door of the car while Draco dealt with the other man, they didn’t have much time before backup arrived. She yanked the door open. She had talked to Sirius and he had given her some tips to handle a probably irate and guarded. When she saw the terrified yet somehow grounded face of Remus Lupin she grinned at him, even though he couldn’t see her through the mask. 

 

“I slovenly swear that I’m up to no good.” 

 

The look of shock was almost funny but there wasn’t time to linger. 

 

*************************

  
  


Draco Malfoy had been kissed a lot in his life. In school, before the news of his father came out, he was considered a big deal. He belonged to one of the most prestigious and powerful families in Europe and he was rich. His father had warned him about bringing shame to the family and when he had suspected that his son wasn’t straight, he had sat Draco down and made him swear to father one child to carry on the Malfoy line and that he could easily find him a wife that would turn a blind eye to his other “interests”. Draco had turned red and told his father that he liked both. His father clearly didn’t understand but he didn’t care as long as Draco was going to fulfill his promise and make sure that the Malfoy name didn’t die with him. It was ironic that his father had ended up doing more damage to the Malfoy name than he could ever would. The Malfoy name was now shunned and if it wasn’t for his mother’s family fortune, they would be destitute. Draco could not even be angry because they deserved it. Even if they didn’t know, they owed the world something for the hurt that they had caused in it. 

 

Still, it was almost unbelievable that the he had the best two kisses of his life, hours away from each other, with two different people. And damn they were different. While his kiss with Hermione was tender and then fire, his kiss with Harry was hesitant and then engulfing. It felt like he had been burned alive by Hermione’s lips and then washed away in a hurricane with Harry’s. How fitting that they would both destroy his world in such opposite ways. Like fire and ice, and Draco did not know which one he wanted his world to end in more. He did know, however, that he wanted more. That one kiss was not enough and it killed him to leave Harry, to not grab Hermione and kiss her. It killed him because they were letting themselves come together, only to fall apart. He felt wrong. He had experienced what it was like to be one with both of them and he didn’t want to let that go, ever. But he had to. Because they had a job to do. 

 

While Hermione was packing her stuff, she had already sent Harry’s stuff to the hanger, he knew she would be done shortly, she did everything with an efficiency that was almost scary. He took out the phone and dialed the number that he had memorized long ago but had never called before. One does not simply contact Tom Riddle, one waits for Riddle to contact them. 

 

“Draco?” 

 

The words were stuck in his throat and they wouldn’t budge. 

 

“I was under the impression that everything was underway, why are you calling?”

 

The words came out with a force he didn’t know that he had, “After this mission, I’m out.”

 

Silence reigned on the other side and there was shuffling of papers and then Riddle’s voice came out, “Draco, we had a deal and you don’t want to be known as the type of person who doesn’t pay their debts. Do you?”

 

“I have more than repaid my debt to you. I want out.”

 

“How about this,” Draco didn’t like the tone of Riddle’s voice, it was almost pleasant and a happy Riddle was a Riddle that he didn’t want to deal with, Riddle reduced to displaying any emotion other than amusement at all those under him was a Riddle that he couldn’t deal with, “You deliver Grindelwald to me personally and I’ll consider your debt paid.”

 

Draco was going to point out that they were already going to do that.

 

“And when I mean to me, Draco. I mean to me.”

 

Riddle hung up and Draco swallowed because now he had another thing to worry about. 

 

***********************

 

Harry was very confused, the driver had dropped him off in a private hanger where a small private jet was waiting for him. An air hostess had ushered him in and told him that they would be leaving as soon as Remus got here. That had calmed him down a bit, but he was still confused why Draco and Hermione didn’t tell him that they were leaving so soon. A screech of tire came from outside and Harry got up and got out as fast as he could.

 

The van had a couple bullet holes in it and for a brief second he panicked but then the door opened and three people came tumbling out and the relief almost made him double over. He went down the stairs of the jet and hugged the nearest person, Remus. Behind Remus, he saw Hermione and Draco and they had both looked like they had seen better days. They were both scraped up and Harry suspected that there were painful bruises under their clothes, but no one was bleeding and they were both smiling at him and so he smiled back. Remus let him go and clapped him on the back, “I’m going to need a lot of chocolate after this.” 

 

Harry laughed and his eyes darted to Draco and Hermione again, Remus must have got something from the look in his eyes because he patted him on the shoulders and walked to the jet. Harry waited until he was inside to walk over to Draco and Hermione. Hermione immediately hugged him.

 

“You did great. I’m so proud of you.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened as he looked at Draco over Hermione’s shoulders and he knew. He backed away from her. 

 

“You’re not coming with us.”

 

They shook their heads in sync and Harry felt the weight of the world settle on his chest. He felt  betrayed, they were leaving him behind, what he was afraid of had happened. 

 

“Harry we have a mission to complete.”

 

The sound of his name from Draco’s mouth was painful. 

 

The sight of them was painful. The gap between them has never been larger and Harry didn’t know how he could go from feeling wanted to feeling rejected in less than four hours. The pain was too much for him and all he could was turn and walk away. He didn’t belong with them. They belonged to different worlds and while he had thought in the morning that they could all bridge the gap, they could work through the absolutely confusing fuckery that was their relationship with each other, he now knew that it was a fantasy. Hermione and Draco were part of the the gods and he was the stupid mortal who worshipped them and thought, that his devotion somehow brought him closer to them, when all it did was put distance between them. Harry was finally ready to work through his feelings, was finally aware of what he wanted. And he was walkign away from them.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took so long im so sorry im late, but thank you to all who read this story and leave comments and kudos, it means so much to me.


	11. Chapter 11

The plane was very luxurious in a way that made Harry long for one of his own. He wanted to be able to hop on and go wherever he wanted at whatever time he wanted; a luxury that he never had until he moved out of his aunt’s place and now that he had seen Italy and had heard Hermione’s tales of the States and other places she's been,he knew that there was a whole wide world there. One where the possibilities were endless and he wasn’t helpless and had to follow instructions by people that were so much more powerful than him. 

Remus was apparently much more used to this kind of luxury; Grindelwald treated you well when he wanted your cooperation. He had rested for a while after trying to get their destination from the hostess with no avail. He seemed to know that there was something wrong with Harry because he was throwing him glances constantly.

“So they’re friends of yours?”

Harry was about to answer yes when he stopped, because Hermione and Draco were so much more than friends but also they weren't. He thought that they had something special between them but he had forgotten that he was just a part of a job. 

“They’re my team.”

Remus nodded and pursed his lips, “I take it that you're not on this plane by choice.”

Harry wanted to protests because he did want to be here with Remus, wanted to ask questions about his parents, how they used to act, and if they were happy together and if they ever made each other so mad that the whole world turned red, except that he wanted to be with Hermione and Draco more because he had enough of stories, he wanted to experience it for himself. 

Remus must have understood this just from the desperate look on his face, “I had that once you know, I had friends I would have died for, killed for. And they were all taken away from me,” he leaned back on his chair across from Harry and looked at the window to his left, there were tears in his eyes, “The world is a cruel place Harry, and sometimes it almost seems as if you were born cursed, like you can’t catch a break and sometimes if you’re lucky enough you meet people who will make it more bearable,” he looked at Harry then and the amount of anguish he saw in his eyes caused unfamiliar tightening in his chest, as if his heart was expanding just by witnessing some of Remus’s grief, trying to find space to harbour that much sadness, “ Those people Harry, are so rare to find and no matter what anybody tells you. You need to hold them close, to care for them and make sure that they know that they can always depend on you. Because sometimes life tries to take them away,” here Remus took a deep breath, “ and sometimes it succeeds.”

Harry couldn’t look away as he registered the weight of Remus’s words, “What if they chose to leave?”

Remus smiled and it looked so out of place with the tears streaming down his cheeks, “ The thing about people is that they are very complex and so are their motives.”

For some reason those words were spoken in a different tone, as if Remus wasn’t sure of them. Like they were a new revelation to him as well. 

“Were my parents one of those special people to you?”

Remus chuckled and gave him the same look he would have given a toddler who just told him about his imaginary friend, “Your parents were the best people I've ever met.”

Before Remus could continue, the captain declared that they would be landing shortly and they both buckled up as the plane began its descent to the runaway below. 

Remus glanced at the window and shot him a worried look, “We haven’t been in the air for long enough to have left Italy.”

The landing was especially smooth and from the window Harry could see a black sleek car waiting for them, a man was standing next to it in a long coat, his hair in a bun but that was all Harry could see, as his face was bent down to the ground but when he pointed him out, Remus visibly tensed next to him. 

“Harry, I think you should know something before we get off,” Harry looked at him and Remus almost looked fearful but also angry and distraught, “ That man out there Harry, He’s Sirius Black.”

Harry didn’t listen to the rest of what Remus had to say because he had quickly ran out of the plane, past a shocked hostess and down the steps, at the sound of his footsteps Black looked up and that's when Harry punched him square in the jaw. The sudden burst of pain helped to dissipate some of the anger, but it wasn’t enough and if it wasn’t for the arms holding him back, Harry was pretty sure he would have punched him again. 

While Remus was trying to restrain him, Black straightened to his full height and rubbed his jaw. 

“James never managed to punch this hard.”

The sound of his father’s name coming from the man who killed him was too much, in a surprising bout of strength Harry got out of Remus’s hold and pounced on Black. This time however, he was ready for him. Harry didnt care, he didn't get to know his parents because of this man and he was going to pay. He didn’t know how he managed to get out of prison but Harry was going to make sure that he would never return there, Sirius Black deserved nothing but death for his crimes. 

He managed to get hold of him around the waist but Black was ready for his assault, he rolled his body sideways and broke free of his hold, he stood up and faced Harry while slightly crouching. Harry was about to try again when there was a loud bang, Harry was very familiar with the sounds of gunshot ,now, to know that when you heard one you ducked and put your hands up. Black must have had the same idea because his eyes met Harry’s and then they both looked sideways. Remus was standing with his hand outstretched up in the air, holding a handgun. His eyes were bouncing from Harry to the man who used to be his best friend. 

“I believe that you owe us an explanation.”

Black sighed and plopped himself right there on the ground, he reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes, then gestured for both of them to sit. Harry was about to tell him that he could go hang and that he would very much help him when Remus pinned him with a look and carefully sat down on the ground too. Harry looked around him, there were in a small private airport, not that different from the one that they had departed from. The airhostess and the pilot got off the plane and nodded at Black as they walked away. The car’s windows were tinted and so Harry couldn’t see if there was anybody inside. As far as he could tell Remus had the only weapon, but he wasn’t sure, Black could have one hidden somewhere and he could have somebody willing to shoot him in the car. He didn’t know where he was and he had no phone or weapons. Harry sat down. 

Black took a puff, “ I just want to say I’m sorry, I owe you both an apology and I’ll do whatever I can to set things right, just please,” his voice broke and he took a deep breath before continuing, “ Please, give me a chance to tell you the truth.”

“What happened Sirius? Miss Granger refused to tell me anything other than the fact that you’re innocent,” Remus’ voice was getting higher and higher as he spoke, “That all those years I thought you were in prison, you were actually free. How could you do it Sirius? How could you betray everything we ever had? How could you set fire to everything we dreamed of?”

Harry could only stay silent as Black took a long drag of his cigarette but when he looked like he was going to answer Remus, Harry’s curiosity overpowered him.

“You know Hermione?”

Black seemed to be surprised at his question, “You can’t be mad at her, Harry, I wanted to tell you myself, she was just following my instructions.”

“I don't understand. Why was she hiding you from me?”

Sirius looked at the ground and then up at him, “Harry, I’m her handler.” 

Harry thought he knew what it felt like to be betrayed, but he was wrong. He thought that learning of the fact that Hermione and Draco chose to send him away was the worst feeling in the world. 

“You’re the guy who saved her?”

Black chucked, “She told you that? I’m afraid it was her who saved me. Even if she won't admit it.”

Harry thought of the man that Hermione spoke of with such devotion and loyalty. He wouldn’t imagine that he was an arsonist and a murder, “So that’s what you did, tricked her into believing you were innocent? Made her loyal to you and escaped to the US?”

Black looked at both of them and put out his cigarette on the asphalt. 

“I met your dad when I was in school, we went to Hogwarts together, my entire family had gone there, it was a family tradition, one of many really. Your father, he came from new money, your grandfather had opened a cosmetics company, very high tech for it’s time. My family were pretty much old money snobs, they didn’t approve of my friendship with your father but I disobeyed them, something that became more and more common as the years went by,” he looked up at Harry, “My family is very old fashioned and bigoted in every way possible and I was supposed to be the shining heir, I disappointed them with my choice of friends. There were two scholarship students in every year, Hogwarts’ attempt to make it look like it was very progressive and kind to the masses. For my year, those were Remus here and a girl called Lily Evans.”

Remus seemed to take a deep breath as if the memories were too much. 

“When I was disowned after taking it too far one family dinner, your family took me in, Harry. At that point we knew everything about each other. The four of us were inseparable. It was me and James and Remus and Pettigrew,” the amount of hate and rage in his voice shocked Harry, it sounded like a man who would burn and kill, so different from the man who was telling him his story with bitter fondness, “Remus was very sick when we were in school, we tried to help him as much as we could, but your mother she helped him the most, they had a dream to come up with a cure. All of us invested in that dream, if there was anybody who can do it, it was them.”

Harry glanced at Remus, “You were sick?”

Remus gave him a smile, “ I had Lupus, it developed as I got older, the doctors didn’t know what caused it but it was probably an adverse reaction to some drug. It completely ruled my life for so long. I went to Uni with Lily hoping to learn how to come up with a permanent cure, your father didn’t go because your grandfather had recently passed away and he decided to take care of the business. Peter got in finance and Sirius-”

“I took odd jobs, stayed with my uncle for a while, then he died and left me an inheritance. He hated my family just as much. I took that money and became business partners with James.”

Remus smiled at Black, at the influx of memories, “We worked together, the company stopped producing cosmetics and turned to medicine and Lilly and I were in charge of the research to help find a cure,” the smile disappeared as he remembered how their story ended, “Then there was the fire.”

They both looked at Black, who took out his second cigarette, “I know you both think I’m guilty but I swear to you it wasn’t me.”

“Sirius someone saw you killing Peter, the witness said-”

“That I bashed in that fucker’s head with a piece of metal,” there was anger in his voice now, “I’m aware of my own trial Remus, and I did kill Peter but only because he deserved it.”

“NOBODY SHOULD HAVE DIED THAT NIGH!”

Harry hadn't known where he got the strength to yell but after he had, he felt the energy drain out of him. He was confused and tired and all of them were talking. He took off his glasses and squeezed his eyes shut and then when he opened them, Sirius was looking at him, like he was sorry, like he cared for him. 

“Harry I swear to you, James was my brother, I would have never,” Black met his eyes and Harry saw the man who used to be an agent, who saw unimaginable things, “Never have betrayed him. It was Pettigrew.”

“You killed Peter, he tried to stop you.”

Black looked like he was going to unleash his fury on Lupin but Harry had had enough, “What do you mean, it was Pettigrew?”

Black glared at Remus but then turned his full attention towards Harry, “Grindelwald had contacted James after your parents got married, and threatened them. We tightened security and told the authorities, we thought we were doing the right thing. They tried to break into the house one day but something had happened and they only found the housekeeper instead,” Harry’s heart was beating out of his chest, this was it, he was finally going to find out what had happened to his parents, “So we agreed, we were all going to meet that night in the factory and then I was going to take all of you to the US, my brother had moved there after our parents died and he agreed to help, but then they burst in,” Harry could almost feel the desperation that was in the air, the need to know, not just oozing from him but gushing like a river, “We ran, they shot James and then Lilly. I picked you up after she fell and I ran and called the police, they had killed the guards, they were chasing me and I hid behind one of the machines, that's when I heard his voice. Peter was onto the whole thing, he told them where we were going to be,” Harry could hear Remus’ surprise intake of breath and in the corner of his eyes he could see him shaking his head, but there was no one but him and Black right now, “When they heard the sirens, they began spilling the oil and they set fire to the whole place, Peter came out to the police playing the victim, he was surprised when he saw me, I handed you to the police man and chased down Peter to an alley and then I used a piece of metal to bash his head in. I do not regret it to this day. But I am innocent of the arson. Harry, I didn't kill your parents.”

Harry didn’t know what he felt, but it was all too much. Too much information, things that he had deserved to know but were kept from him until today, he didn't know what to believe. He looked at Remus who was already looking at him. 

“What do you think?”

“I’ve gone so long believing it was Sirius,” a deep breath was let out, “I don't know.”

“I’ll give you guys time, we’ll drive to a safe place and you can both rest and then tomorrow you’ll be leaving the country.”

Something gnawed at Harry’s mind, “Wait how did you get out of prison.”

Sirius Black transformed before his eyes, from grieving and resigned to angry in a blink of an eye, “My brother helped me.”

Remus seemed surprised but also curious, “How is Regulus?”

Black walked to the car, reaching for another cigarette from his pocket, “Dead.”

*************************

Draco had known that Hermione could be a very good liar; he had seen it in every interaction with McLaggen and when she tried to hide herself by blending in to her surroundings, but now something was wrong.

She had worn her rattiest pair of jeans and a hoodie and she had pulled her hair into a bun that looked more like a knot, if he was to be honest. She looked pale and distraught and this was all to trick McLaggen, contact with him was risky but Draco had not been able to convince her of another plan, mainly because he didn't have one, but also because while it was risky it was also their safest bet. He was not comfortable with the fact that she was growing more and more reckless.

He was sure it had to do with Potter, something that must have also caused the redness rimming her eyes. He knew that all he could do now was support her because he needed Grindelwald more than anything. 

Draco Malfoy was going to get his life back. 

The fact that included an unofficial assignment from one Tom Riddle meant that there was also a chance that he was going to lose it, but if Granger got to be impulsive then so could he, and if there was anything that she was teaching him was that anything that's worth having doesn't come easy. 

“I would feel more comfortable if you met with him in public.”

She huffed as she messed up her hair even more, “I need to look desperate and pathetic, give him the impression that he is special for letting him see me in such a state, I have to be consistent with the persona I created and Penelope will never sit anywhere in public like this.”

“Yes but Penelope isn't the one who may die.”

“Careful or I might think you care for me.”

“Someone has to, clearly Black doesn't care anymore.”

He knew he had said the wrong thing, because for a fraction of a second her smile shattered but she schooled it fast, not fast enough, he had worried about getting emotionally invested in this case and that's what exactly what they had done. The Hermione in front of him was not the cold blooded agent with unparable rationale and logic.

“Do you think Sirius told him yet?”

He was not expecting the question and so he faltered, “Well you did tell Lupin.”

“I asked him not to tell him.”

“You think he's going to resent you for not telling him.”

“He already sees our actions as a betrayal, we abandoned him and now he’s going to find out that I was lying to him all this time.”

“You didn't lie.”

“A lie by omission is still a lie.”

“Your morality is exhausting and so perplexing.”

That made her smile but only for a second. 

“He's going to hate me.”

“You dont regret it?”

She shrugged, “I did it to protect him.” 

“He knows that, he’ll come around eventually.” 

She stood up and walked towards him, her eyes boring into him, “You plan to survive this, right?”

“Are you worried about me?”

“I’m not the only one who cares about him.”

He didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. She kept staring at him and he inhaled a breath that he found very hard to exhale, the distance between them seemed so small all of a sudden, if he leaned down, if she stretched up, their lips would be a mere hair width apart. His heart beat in his chest and his insides felt hollow with the desire to taste her, to be engulfed by her, to touch her and be with her and to feel her. 

“I saw your kiss.”

The words shocked him as to take a step back and he expected her to be angry, to hit him with vicious words about how selfish he was and how inconsiderate as to kiss both her and Potter in the span of less than a day, but instead he found a smile.

“It’s okay to go after what you want, you know, even if it's not the most conventional of options.”

Draco had grown on subtlety, it was the height of improper upbringing to say things in the brutal honesty that Potter- Harry- often employed. That is how he knew exactly what Hermione meant, but knowing what she meant and processing it are two different things. He needed to make sure that she survived the night first. 

“You have to put on a wire.”

A gentle smile was directed his way as she walked towards the door of the abandoned apartment that they had decided to settle in for the time, “Knowing the way the night might progress, it's too risky,” before he could object to her lack of any semblance of self preservation she continued, “Also you don't need to wire me, I bugged his place last time I was there.”

*************************

Cormac McLaggen was used to getting what he wanted, especially in his pursuit of carnal pleasures. He was a firm believer in all that was beautiful and all that was pleasureblel and Penelope was not the most beautiful woman he had ever been with, far from it, but she was by far the most interesting. Her intelligence and her control and passion made for an enticing companionship that he knew he needed to feel again. The fact that her fiance didn't seem that into him did not bother him, because while he did pursuit them at the beginning it was clear that James had some stuff to work through and because Cormac was a firm believer of pleasure he did not want to burden himself with such problems. He did not expect for Penelope to come knocking on his door, red eyed and in the worst state he had seen her in since he had met her. 

When he invited her in she seemed to shake like a leaf and her hair was a mess. For a brief moment he was confused and then she looked at him and she must have felt his preplexment, that was the thing about her she was always able to read his mind, their connection seemed almost unreal. 

“James,” then she took a shuddering breath, “He left.”

It was then that he noticed the lack of the ring on her finger. Clearly he had miscalculated the extent of their problems, he was sure that the night she had spent with him alone had probably widened the rift between them. James was an idiot for not understanding that their relationship was not emotional at all that they were both just running from things and towards the same thing, be it pain or pleasure (both sides of the same coin,really). 

He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and led her deeper into the apartment.

*************************

Tom Riddle was used to success. He had lived a hard life, one that was characterized by suffering and work and hunger. But he had tasted the addicting essence of winning early on and had been hooked ever since. Addiction was an illness and Tom Riddle was sick. He longed for triumph over the world that had wronged him for so long and against the people who had sneered at him. The ones who had looked at his insignificant name and his lack of wealth and judged him as inconquestial. 

The irony almost made him laugh. 

He was so close, finally after years.


	12. Draco and Hermione look at the stars and so much more

Draco was worried. A feeling that he was getting very accustomed to. Hermione had not contacted him at all, and even though he knew that if she wanted help she could just send  their signal and he would be able to hear her he was still… he was worried. The last time she was with McLaggen she didn't exactly dive into the best headspace. He felt like he was seriously violating her privacy by listening to her and McLaggen, but the alternative was not being aware if anything happened. He was sure he could live with the discomfort. 

 

There was a thump on his intercom and for a second cold fear grasped his insides. 

 

“Draco, you need to be here.” 

 

The sound of her voice projected made him aware of how much she lowered her voice when she was speaking with McLaggen. There was something she didn’t want him to hear and now she needed him and he swallowed the need to shout at her for hiding shit, it was not the time. He needed to focus on getting her out of this mission alive and capturing Grindelwald for Riddle. Their dynamic was thrown off now that Harry had left and he wanted to reassure her that no matter what happened and despite his confusion  he was always going to have her back. 

 

The drive to McLaggen’s house flew by as he hurried to get to Hermione. McLaggen lived in a nice residential area and the security around his building was weak but Draco wasn’t about to draw unnecessary attention or leave anything behind that could be traced back to him, so Hermione opened the backdoor of the building for him. That was the first sign that something was wrong, whatever had happened, Hermione was able to leave the apartment without McLaggen.

 

He didn't know what he was expecting as he climbed the stairs to the top floor. She waved him in and closed the door quickly and he tried to not think of the last time Hermione was here. She quickly strode past the living room and into a doorway, her hair no longer in the bun she left in but loose and flowing in a mass of curls that fell past her shoulders.

 

He hadn't really had time to imagine what he'd find when he walked into the kitchen, but it was definitely not McLaggen lying on the floor, glass shards surrounding him. His first instinct was to assume that McLaggen had tried something and Hermione had knocked him out with a glass. But a look at her worried face made him realize something else was happening. 

 

“He was pouring us a drink.”

 

Draco’s eyes widened and he knelt down to check the pulse in McLaggen wrist. 

 

“Don't bother, I already checked.” 

 

McLaggen was dead. 

  
  


****************************

 

Harry had a lot on his mind. The fact that all he knew was false. That the murderer of his family was actually not the one who had murdered his family, and was actually Hermione’s handler. The fact that all this time he could have been living with Sirius and Hermione, but instead had grown up with the Dursleys. A part of him was jealous that Hermione got to have the father figure that was supposed to be his. The guilt at that thought was enough to squash it right out of his mind. 

 

He was brought out of his reprise by the vibration of Black’s phone, it broke the tense silence that permated the car as they drove to the border. Black frowned and answered immediately, but he made no response as the person on the other end talked. 

 

“You need to get out of there, I’ll have Luna hack into the security cameras, it’s unlikely they left any trace of themselves but it doesn't hurt to check,” Harry could hear the muffled voice through the phone's speaker. The frown on Black's face deepened and the next words were spoken with tired familiarity, as if this wasn’t the first time they were spoken but still they retained their meaning,  “My first priority is you. Come back to me.”

 

Harry felt his heart drop like a brick, “What’s wrong?”

 

Black met his eyes in the rear view mirror, it lasted only a second but Harry could swear that an eternity passed before he spoke, “McLaggen was poisoned in his apartment, he drank from an unopened wine bottle, Hermione was with him,” as he saw the look of shock and worry on Harry’s face he quickly continued, “She’s okay though.”

 

Harry’s relief was short lived as Sirius continued, “I’m going to drop you two off in a safe house for a couple of hours, someone will come to take you to New York, there you’ll be invisible for a while until this whole thing is over.”

 

“Sirius you can’t possibly expect me to just leave quietly,” it was the first time that Harry heard Remus sound so riled up, his voice carried a tone of quiet warning but the tense lines of his body as he sat next to Harry in the backseat radiated restrained fury. 

 

Black sighed and it sounded so tired, like it took all the effort in his body to even reply, “Remus I know you want answers but I have people I need to take care of. I can’t abandon them.” 

 

Something registered in Remus’s mind, a look of nostalgia and intense wanting followed by confusion and finally reluctant understanding, he relaxed his body and leaned on the window, “Fine, but dont think this is over.”

 

Black was already calling someone else, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

********************

  
  


Hermione did not like surprises at all. She was sure that was a side effect of spending considerable time in the foster care system, where surprises were never pleasant and usually involved uncomfortable amounts of change. She was self-aware enough to understand that she still had some issues regarding her childhood.

 

Being aware of problems and working to solve them were completely different things. Her job required her to be able to handle surprises, though, a fact that Sirius had used to try and sway her into having a more normal life. She knew she could succeed if she had gone into politics or law or academics the way he wanted her to, but she also knew that none of  these things would give her the same rush, none of them would ever be enough. 

 

She was forced to acknowledge her powerlessness alot, training was brutal, situations were unpredictable and one wrong move could result in her death and international tension. The fact remained that nothing had ever challenged her like this job and nothing ever will. Hermione did not like surprises but she did like challenges and this job went against her entire nature, but she did it anyway. She could feel herself evolving as she finished every mission, a feeling she was sure she would never encounter in the real world.

It was just that sometimes those challenges grew increasingly inconvenient. 

 

Like the fact that her only link to Grindelwald and his entire operation was dead, and she too almost ingested poison, it was pure luck that he had drank first and that she was pretending to be wiping her tears. She had grown comfortable and forgot who they were dealing with. She had almost died for it. 

 

Her and Malfoy worked on erasing all presence of her in the apartment, fingerprints wiped, the cup that McLaggen took out for her washed and returned to the cupboard. Sirius had called Luna and she had erased any footage of her going up to the apartment and the footage of them going up the stairs. There was the matter of the guard seeing her go up to the apartment but that could be fixed with a straightener and a some heavy makeup. The thought of the all the things she’ll need made her shudder, she wasn’t the best when it came to disguise, that was more Tonks’ thing. She just hoped that she wouldn’t need to dye her hair.

 

The death of McLaggen was definitely a hiccup and there was nothing they could do about it, until they received further instruction. A fact that seemed to irritate Draco more than her and she could understand to a certain extent. Tom Riddle did not seem to be the man that you just told bad news to without expecting consequences. For the millionth time in her life she felt deep gratitude for Sirius. It wasn’t only because he fed her, housed her, and cared for her all these years but it was also gratitude for him simply being him.

 

She looked at Draco in the passenger seat, she was glad that they had left the back door open it allowed them to leave the card used to open it in the room. The light from the nearby cars made his hair shine an ethereal white and his pale skin contrasted with the darkness of the night. He looked so beautiful that she ached with it, felt the longing for him deep in her bones and she didn’t know what to do with it. She wanted to stop the car and stretch over the distance separating them. 

 

A flash of green eyes and a crooked boyish smile made her stop. They were incomplete and even if Draco did want the same thing as her there was still the fact that he had feelings for Harry. She could share him she was sure, her job already didn’t leave room for much normality and it wasn’t fair to be in a strictly monogamous relationship. She could die or be away or never get to see him except for maybe a week every year. It was better to let whatever was between them be casual, to let Draco pursue Harry. It was better this way. 

  
  


****************

  
  
  


Draco was not happy. Not only did they hit a dead end, he would also have to tell Riddle about it. To top it all off Hermione almost died and he wouldn’t have known until he sneaked to check on her after the agreed number of hours had passed. The car ride was tense, usually Harry would be there to break the tension or to just brood, which was a very entertaining sight for Draco personally, but he wasn’t here anymore and the sadness that came with his absence felt inevitable. 

 

They had to lay low for a few days and so they hunkered down in the apartment. Draco was trying to think about how he could break it to Riddle. A text would be sufficient but that will certainly make him angrier. And then Theo will skin him alive before Riddle gets to him because he would have to be the one to deal with him. 

 

“I can hear you thinking all the way over here.”

 

He glanced at Hermione, sitting in the chair in the corner, her legs tucked underneath her, “I'm sorry for intruding on your domain.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at him and walked over, “It’ll be okay, we’ll think of something.”

 

She almost seemed like she was going to hug him, but she settled for holding his hand. Instantly his entire body felt numb, except for his hand. His hand felt like it was being lit on fire. Holding her hand felt like holding the universe, like he was cradling infinite possibilities, but her warmth reminded him that she was alive. Not even the starry sky could induce in him this sensation of wonder and gratitude, of basking in warmth and life, not even the starry sky could induce in him this reverence.

 

When he looked up at Hermione, he came to the realization that they were completely alone. That they didn't need to stand so close and yet their breath mingled with every exhale and yet he could count the golden flecks in her eyes, feel her chest heave, he could distinguish the darker streaks in her hair. 

 

When their lips met it was fast and hurried and nothing like their first kiss. It was ice and and fire and all the things that made the universe. Then it was hurried breaths and moans and she was no longer just kissing his lips but down his neck. 

 

His shirt came off and so did her pants, he backed her up against the wall and there was only her as she tried to take off his trousers, as she grabbed him and stroked. The pleasure made him throw his head back as a guttural moan exited his throat. He then rested his head against her shoulder and the puffs of air coming from his mouth moved her hair, so he pushed it aside and nibbled on the skin there. He wanted to make her forget about Mclaggen, he didnt care if he was dead or alive. 

 

He pulled her hand away from himself and picked her up, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Their eyes did not stray from each other as he dropped her on the couch and then knelt between her legs. Draco Malfoy quickly found out that Hermione Granger made the prettiest sounds when she was being eaten out. 

 

Her thighs squeezed around his head and she grasped his hair and it hurt in a way that made him breathless. But suddenly she grew tense and he met her eyes as she came. 

 

Later, after the third or fourth round, they were lying together on the couch with their legs tangled. Hermione was tracing shapes along his collarbones and he was tracing his fingers along her spine. His chin rested on top of her head and her he could feel her heartbeat against his and he was sure that this was the closest thing that he had ever felt to happiness. He was almost breathless with it. 

 

“Draco.”

 

The sound of her voice was quiet, almost hesitant and he knew why, what they held between them was fragile; one wrong step and it would shatter and they would be left with nothing but the memories, and those would cut them like glass. He wasn't sure those were enough anymore.

 

“I want you to be happy you know that, right?”

 

He looked down at her and she met his gaze, her eyes were soft and the way she kissed him was even softer, “If anything happens to me, you’ll tell him I was sorry right?”

 

He didn't need to ask who was  _ him _ , he didn't want to tell her that he would probably need to apologize too. He was sure that Harry, just like him, was halfway in love with Hermione already. The truth of it was as inevitable as the misery that was sure to come their way. It was a messed up situation they were in but one he knew was necessary. 

 

“There is nothing to apologize for, you know. I don't belong to him.”

 

When Draco looked down again her eyes were closed and a small smile was on her lips. 

 

Not even Tom could induce in him this fear. 

 

*************

 

Sirius was entering the city when he got the phone call. Luna’s gentle voice came through the speaker.

 

“We have a problem.”

 

He was really thinking about retiring, he couldn’t do this anymore.

 

“The police didn't find a body.”

 

Something cold slithered around Sirius’ stomach. Hermione had been sure that he was dead, so McLaggen couldn’t have moved by himself.

 

“Any clues?”

 

“Whoever did it was no subtle at all, the cameras did not record anything for ten minutes, they wanted to be found,” Luna sounded curious and excited. She was always craving a mystery to solve, something to chase. 

 

“I’ll tell Hermione, you work on trying to find out who it is, check if there are any cameras around the building.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

Sirius didn not like the fact that there was no body, a body was evidence, it provided answers. The absence of one was continuous anticipation for the day that questions would finally reveal themselves.

 

A body made things simple, he knew that from experience.

 

Dark hair and grey eyes flashed in his mind and he gripped the steering wheel tighter, until the pain in his chest, along with the anguish and rage dissipated. Until he could breathe. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is finally here so sorry that it took so long but hopefully I can now start updating again. Reviews make me so happy and theories about how this story will go are always welcome and exciting to read


End file.
